New Tampa residents on alert; fake solicitors unlocking windows

Here's an e-mail circulating around Meadow Pointe and New Tampa:

WARNING...PLEASE READ, Especially Meadow Point Residents:  There is a
very pretty young girl (looks to be around 20 or so...) who claims to
be a USF Foreign Exchange Student.  She has a very thick accent. She
is knocking on doors all throughout MP (1, 2, 3 and even 4).  She
claims that she has books for young school aged children (she can
often have much information about you & or ur children)...she keeps
trying to talk to you, even if U say U have No interest.  Then, she
asks to use ur restroom or wash her hands & she is going in &
unlocking any window &/or side doors that she can. This is a SCAM.
Please be aware. She is VERY Persistent. She has knocked on my door
once. I've just heard that she has knocked on some peoples doors two
or three times. Apparently she might be organized with a ...group who
may have access 2 a database & have info, names of our children, the
school they attend & even teacher names...PLEASE BE AWARE,, please
post on ur FB 2 alert everyone! and pass this email on to everyone.

Even if she doesn't come to your door, or if someone lives in another
community this can easily happen in any neighborhood.  NEVER LET
ANYONE in your home...even if they seem sweet and innocent.  The MP
community website has even had some postings on message boards about
her.  Their also may be more than one girl doing this. 

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T.G.I.Friday's coming to New Tampa

Construction crews were hard at work today transforming the old Bennigan's restaurant into a T.G.I.Friday's at Highwoods Preserve. The sign says it all:

Circuit City closure leaves the Walk on shaky footing

From the Times:

By Dong-Phuong Nguyen

NEW TAMPA — When Linens 'n Things and Circuit City opened at the Walk in Highwoods Preserve in 2001, developers described the first few months as going "exceptionally well."

With a prime location along busy Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, the shopping plaza became a popular stop in this affluent community.

Today — eight years and a crumbling economy later — the strip center is about to look like a ghost town.

Corporate bankruptcies have forced both these big box giants to go into liquidation, just a few months after Bennigan's, another tenant at the Walk, locked its doors.

Circuit City has become the largest retailer to fall victim to the expanding financial crisis. After attempts to sell the business failed, the company announced last week that it will shut down its remaining 567 stores nationwide at the cost of 34,000 more jobs.

Barbara Schlappig, owner of Salon at the Walk, located next to Circuit City, said she worried about how the closings will affect business.

Traffic was at high volume and parking spaces were scarce because of all the bargain-hunters this week, but what will happen after everything is sold and the Circuit City sign is taken off the building?

"You get concerned when anybody closes," Schlappig said. "It just doesn't look right."

Schlappig said the property has changed management companies several times. It is currently being managed by Developers Diversified Realty, a company based in Ohio. No one from Developers Diversified Realty was available for comment early this week.

According to the company's Web site, the Walk is a 150,529-square-foot community center.

More than 94,046 people with an average household income of $82,976 live within a 5-mile radius, it states.

Michaels, the arts and crafts store, is the one remaining anchor for about two dozen other tenants, including a Subway, a pediatrician's office, a bike shop and a Panera Bread.

Listening to the sound of car engines zooming past each day, it's odd to find a once-bustling center reduced to a strip of small shops with a single anchor, residents said.

"I feel bad for the shopping center," said Barbara Franklin, of Pebble Creek. "With the economy the way it is, I can't say that I'm surprised."

Franklin and her husband, Stan, were among a steady stream of shoppers earlier this week who stopped in at Circuit City to look for liquidation deals.

Signs along Bruce B. Downs Boulevard said items were discounted up to 30 percent.

It was a familiar trip for the Franklins, who weeks earlier browsed the barren aisles at Linens 'n Things next door as it sold remaining merchandise to pay creditors.

"Hopefully a Kohl's or a similar department store will move in here," Franklin said.

Scott Hileman of Nye Commercial Advisors, who specializes in land brokerage and development, said with a lot of retailers pulling back, the closings are "just a reflection of the economy."

He predicts the other business will survive.

"Obviously, everybody kind of relies on those anchor tenants to pull in traffic," he said. "The smaller tenants will be okay. Most of them have a pretty good presence in this market anyway. They'll be able to fill that space really quick."

Tax district recount produces same winner

A recount in the Tampa Palms Open Space and Transportation seat 4 race has yielded the same outcome, with the winner beating her second-place opponent by 16 votes.

Newcomer Susanne Shea Alfonso was victorious over Martin E. Maldonado and incumbent Rosanne Clementi. Alfonso originally led Maldonado by 21 votes. Because the race was so close, elections officials had to count the votes again.

Alfonso, who lost five votes in the recount, received 1,201 votes, Maldonado got 1,185 and Clementi garnered 1,148 votes.

The taxing district operates recreation centers in West Meadows and Richmond Place.

Dong-Phuong Nguyen, Times Staff Writer

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Job fair for the Shops at Wiregrass

Job seekers in the Tampa Bay area can interview with some top retailers at a job fair coming to Tampa. The event is 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26 and Saturday, Sept. 27, at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites at 8310 Galbraith Road off Highwoods Preserve Parkway.

The job fair, which is for the soon-to-open Shops at Wiregrass, is presented by Career Central, an enterprise of the Pasco Hernando Jobs and Education Partnership. The Shops at Wiregrass is scheduled to open Oct. 30 at State Road 56 and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. Macy's, Dillard's, Cosi, Cantina Laredo, the Walking Co., Zale's Jewelers, Select Comfort and more will participate.

All participants are encouraged to bring multiple copies of their resume, a state I.D. or driver's license, and a Social Security card. Be prepared to do an on-site interview, too.

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Job seekers in the Tampa Bay area can interview with some top retailers at a job fair coming to Tampa. The event is 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26 and Saturday, Sept. 27, at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel and Suites at 8310 Galbraith Road off Highwoods Preserve Parkway.

Bennigan's might be back

Their parent company may have gone bankrupt, but three profitable area Bennigan's locations, including the one in New Tampa, may be able to reopen fairly soon.

Mitch Walker, owner of the Channelside franchise — the only Bennigan's still open in the Tampa Bay area after the company filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy last week — says he may try to reopen the company-owned locations at Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, N Dale Mabry Highway and St. Petersburg as franchises. Together they employed an estimated 150 people before closing July 29.

Two companies, Atalaya Capital Management LP and CRG Partners, are now managing the Bennigan's franchise system. Franchise owners will meet in Chicago next week with representatives of the companies to discuss making a joint offer for some of the more desirable Bennigan's locations, Walker said.

I'm gonna miss you, Monte Cristo

Without warning, Bennigan's restaurants all over the country shut their doors today, including the New Tampa location (pictured above).

At lunchtime today, the parking lot was empty. Patrons trickled up to the door, only to find it locked.

--- Dong-Phuong Nguyen

Fundraiser for John Dicks

Supporters of John Dicks, Democratic primary candidate for the 9th Congressional District, at 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 3 at the clubhouse at Equestrian Parc, 18201 Highwoods Preserve Parkway, Tampa. Suggested minimum contributions are $25/person, $50/couple. To reserve, call (813) 732-6238.

Noon Rotary news

Lori Hakeem, a Keller Williams Realtor at Highwoods Preserve, is the new president of the New Tampa Noon Rotary Club, which swore in its new officers today. Also announced were: President Elect Ralph Argen; Secretary Valerie Casey; Treasurer Angela Garrett; and Sgt. At Arms Scott Hileman. The Rotary meets every Wednesday at noon at Circles New Tampa Bistro, 19651 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., in Pebble Creek. The luncheon speaker on July 9 is Ronna Metcalf of Life Enrichment Center in north Tampa. Call (813) 760-4426 or email Tom@TomSellsFlorida.com.

Karate school teaches defense against bullies

Gregorio Diaz is a 7th degree Taekwondo master who once was a victim of bullying. Now Diaz teaches kids how to counteract the emotional, verbal and/or physical abuses of a bully from 7 to 8 p.m. Fridays at #1 Martial Arts, 17409 Bridge Hill Ct. off Primrose Lake Circle in Tampa Palms. The program is for kids in grades K-12. Call (813) 972-2200.