Tag Archives: Tampa Bay Times

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Bealls is going after millennials with new Bunulu store

bunulu

Bealls Inc. wants shoppers to think of its stores as more than just a place where grandma likes to shop.

So, the Bradenton-based retailer launched a new store concept this year, called Bunulu, which will sell activewear like yoga pants and bathing suits to moms and millennials. The first Bunulu store opened near Fort Myers last week. More are coming — stores will open in Jacksonville and Palm Beach by the end of the year. Another is expected to open later at Tampa’s International Plaza.

“Bunulu is for that outdoor, youth-minded person. We sell apparel and footwear but also accessories like Costa sunglasses, Garmins, GoPros and Yeti coolers,” said Lorna Nagler, president of Bealls Department Stores.

Bealls is the latest retailer to jump into the “athletic-leisure” game — an up-and-coming apparel trend made famous by retailers like Lululemon, known for charging $100 for yoga pants. But this new line of activewear isn’t just for the gym or the yoga studio. Women are wearing yoga pants and tank tops casually to drop their kids off at school, to go to Starbucks and the grocery store.

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Tampa Bay tech entrepreneurs say Amazon workplace is more the norm

By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times

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A recent New York Times report about the workplace culture of online retail giant Amazon sparked intense debate about the Seattle-based company’s cultlike enterprise.

Brutal tales of fierce employee competition, 24/7 work cycles and unforgiving denials of requests for time off may not be the norm for every growing company. But millennials working in the tech industry in Tampa Bay were unfazed by the report. It felt more like a lecture from Dad: old fashioned, out of touch and very yesterday.

Answering text messages from bosses after midnight and logging 80-hour workweeks isn’t a big deal to many young people working in fast-growing, innovative industries, some entrepreneurs say, because technology has made it easy to be “wired in” all the time.

“I haven’t figured out a way to disconnect. If you find a way to not be on your phone at all times, please let me know,” said Daniel James Scott, executive director of the Tampa Bay Technology Forum. “The challenge is looking at how the technology we have is changing how we work all the time, and adapting to that culture and the new level of data that’s available at our fingertips. It’s a bit of a mystery to me how to balance that.”

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As Tampa Bay contractors seek skilled workers, program trains women in construction

By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times

women construction

Blanca Caudillo is good at math.

She’s the first to raise her hand with an answer in a carpentry class at the Helen Gordon Davis Centre for Women in Tampa. She lights up with a smile every time she’s right.

Caudillo recently separated from her husband. On a desperate quest to find a job, she found the Women Building Futures program, a free 10-week training course hosted by the center in Hillsborough County that teaches women the skills to work in construction. She is one of 40 women who make up the program’s inaugural class, which began last month.

“Right after my husband left, everything started falling apart. My a/c broke, my car started breaking down,” said Caudillo, who lives in Plant City. It’s tough to afford these costly repairs. “I need to learn to do these things for myself.”

The construction classes aren’t easy, Caudillo said, but she’s learning. On Tuesday night, she spent three hours building the wood frame of a wall. She had to calculate and measure the proper distances to include a window and a door. The week before, she learned how to hang dry wall.

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Bonefish Grill struggling as diners’ preferences change

By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times

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Bonefish Grill — intended to be the engine powering the growth of Bloomin’ Brands restaurant portfolio — is in dire need of a tune up.

CEO Liz Smith acknowledged Tuesday an alarming second quarter drop in Bonefish sales, down 4.6 percent, and traffic, down 7.8 percent.

Smith blamed an expanded menu at the seafood restaurant chain that added “too much complexity” and ultimately “compromised the core dining experience and service suffered.”

She said the company plans to focus on what made Bonefish Grill successful in the first place: the chain’s “polished casual heritage,” and its “fish expertise.” And the Bang Bang Shrimp isn’t going anywhere.

Outside experts say Tampa’s homegrown seafood chain faces bigger problems than its menu.

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Tampa Bay tries to stand out in wave of lists and rankings

By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times


We are a nation of lists and rankings.

Top places to retire. Top party spots. Best beaches. Best cities for runners. Worst cities for runners. Top dining destinations. Best place to launch a business. Most romantic cities. Least romantic cities. Best cities to buy a home. Top cities for dogs. America’s sweatiest cities. (No joke; Tampa, by the way, is tops).

Lists and rankings are everywhere — our inboxes, our Facebook feeds, on nearly every website we visit.

They often include Tampa Bay cities. St. Petersburg is No. 1 for millennials in Florida. Tampa is the nation’s second-best beer town. Clearwater Beach has a bevy of “best beach” titles.

And on and on. Enough already, right?

“There’s a new list out every minute, it seems,” said Patrick Harrison, vice president of marketing and communication for Visit Tampa Bay, the tourism marketing arm of Hillsborough County. “Once the Internet took off, lists took over as the first true form of clickbait, but now you’re seeing them from lesser-known websites and media outlets.”

Read more here.