Tag Archives: Tampa Bay Times

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It may be legal now, but opening a medical marijuana store in Florida is harder than you think

By Justine Griffin, Tampa Bay Times, March 3, 2017

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TAMPA — The Surterra Therapeutics storefront on Fowler Avenue doesn’t look like the kind of place where people can buy pot.

There’s no green marijuana leaves lit in neon lights nor blacked-out windows. No security guard is checking IDs at the front door. Visitors don’t have to be escorted into another room to see the product.

And that’s on purpose.

As one of seven select companies licensed to grow, manufacture, distribute and sell marijuana in Florida, Surterra Holdings Inc. executives are used to explaining that they’re not in business to be another smoke shop. But that’s tough to do when even the bank lenders, real estate brokers, landlords and insurance agents are wary of doing business with them.

“We’re trying to change the stigma,” said Monica Russell, a spokeswoman for Surterra, who noted even securing insurance for the company’s fleet of delivery trucks has been a challenge. “We want people to come here so they can have a conversation and see we’re actually a health and wellness company.”

Marijuana is still considered an illegal substance at the federal level, despite the 28 states that have legalized it for recreational or medicinal use in recent years. That makes it nearly impossible for banks to fund marijuana distributing companies, which in turn makes it hard to sign a lease for a commercial store or warehouse.

Read more here.

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Busch Gardens new president faces headwinds in amusement park industry

By Justine Griffin, Tampa Bay Times, March 1, 2017

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TAMPA — After spending more than 30 years working at SeaWorld Entertainment parks across the country, Busch Gardens’ newest park president, Stewart Clark, still wasn’t prepared for the backlash he and his family faced after the release of the documentary, Blackfish.

Clark’s wife, Kelly Flaherty Clark, a longtime animal trainer and spokeswoman at SeaWorld, was prominently featured defending SeaWorld in the documentary from 2013, which explored the controversy over captive killer whales and the death of a SeaWorld trainer.

“There were several very personal and demented attacks on my family,” said Clark, who left his role as vice president of Discovery Cove to become park president of Busch Gardens and Adventure Island in Tampa on Jan. 16. “I told my kids this then and still tell them to this day: Hundreds of thousands of people come to our parks on any given day. They are the quiet supporters who don’t want to engage in a fight on Twitter, but they’re seeing first hand the great conservation and educational work we do.”

Clark, 52, doesn’t have much time to look back. He has a challenging path ahead — in helping bolster both Busch Gardens and his parent company. SeaWorld Entertainment, which operates Busch Gardens and Adventure Island, has struggled financially in recent years. Attendance has dropped significantly at SeaWorld Entertainment’s Florida parks — down 547,000 visitors in 2016 — company officials said during an earnings call earlier this week.

Read more here.

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Why would these two St. Petersburg entrepreneurs want to open a used bookstore in the Internet age?

By Justine Griffin, Tampa Bay Times, Feb. 17, 2017

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ST. PETERSBURG —The age of Amazon and online shopping has left a litany of retail casualties in its wake.

Bookstores in particular have been hit hard by online marketplaces where shoppers can virtually find any book they want and have it shipped to their home with just a few clicks of the mouse.

But that doesn’t deter Tim Russell and Bobby Hauske, who are about to open a used bookstore in Tyrone Square Mall next month.

“We have to live in Amazon’s world,” said Russell, a Florida native and businessman. “They’re putting their competitors out of business so they can open up their own bookstores now.”

Like online bookstore kingpin Amazon, Russell and Hauske are reversing the pattern of most businesses, starting with a thriving online-only business that leads to a brick-and-mortars operation.

The two plan to open 321 Books inside the former Gap store at the mall in St. Petersburg the first week of March. They will stock the shelves they bought from the recently closed Sears department store at Tyrone with 100,000 used books. Hardcover books will sell for $3. Soft covers are $2. Everything else, like CDs, DVDs and audio books, will be priced at $1 each.

Rent isn’t cheap and the price point of their product is low. It might sound like a risky business. But Russell and Hauske are confident given the success they’ve already had selling thousands of used books online.

Read more here. 

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HSN featured jewelry company accused of cheating its artisans

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Tampa Bay Times, Feb. 5, 2017, A1 

By Justine Griffin

People tuning in to HSN might think they’re supporting a good cause by purchasing a lapis bracelet from Bajalia International Group, an Orlando company that employs female artisans in developing countries like Afghanistan and India.

What shoppers don’t see on their TV screens is the sometimes ruthless business arrangements between Bajalia and its artisans, the company’s history of short-changing its craftswomen or the checkered financial past of the company’s founder and CEO.

On air at HSN, Debbie Farah is portrayed as a savior for women in poor and developing nations who produce the natural gemstone necklaces and beaded bracelets that Farah’s company sells online and on HSN, the popular television retailer based in St. Petersburg.

A follow up story published on March 17, 2017, when HSN dropped Bajalia from its programming. The story was featured on WSTP Ch. 10’s Sunday Conversation.

Read the original investigation here.

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Tampa Bay Times: Tampa International Airport is willing to spend money to make money on international flights

By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times. October 14, 2016

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Orlando International Airport hasn’t ever had trouble recruiting new flights.

Airliners have been lining up for years to link new cities from around the globe to Disney World, Universal Studios and Central Florida’s other tourism attractions.

But last year, the Orlando airport introduced a financial incentive program meant to help lure new airline business.

The program mimicked what Tampa International Airport instituted more than five years ago, which has helped bring high-profile international flights like nonstop service to Frankfurt, Germany, on Lufthansa and service to Panama City, Panama, on Copa Airlines, to Tampa Bay.

The new incentive program in Orlando ultimately helped the airport draw a nonstop flight to Dubai on international airliner Emirates.

Tampa’s entry into the world of airline incentives didn’t come without controversy: Airport CEO Joe Lopano drew public criticism when he asked for permission to throw money at airlines after he arrived in Tampa in 2011. He eventually got the go-ahead, but it was new terrain for the airport.

Read more in the Tampa Bay Times here.