Business News: Tampa Baseball, Wagamama Asian Fusion Open

Sarasota FL

25 September, 2021

2:17 PM

Description

FLORIDA — Here's the latest restaurant, retail and other business news from the Tampa Bay region. Manatee Small Business Of The Year Nominees Announced The Manatee Chamber of Commerce announced its nominees for the 41st Annual Manatee Small Business of the Year Awards, which will take place at a Nov. 16 cocktail reception at the Bradenton Area Convention Center. Housing Prices, Inventory Plummets In Sarasota, Manatee Housing prices and demand continued to rise in Sarasota and Manatee during August 2021, according to a report by the REALTOR Association of Sarasota and Manatee (RASM) using data from Florida REALTORS. Grand Opening Planned Saturday For Tampa Baseball Museum Although Tampa Bay's Major League Baseball team now makes its home at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, across the bay, America's favorite pastime has a long and storied history in Tampa that will now be on display at the Tampa Baseball Museum. Hosted by legendary MLB alum and Tampa native Lou Piniella, the museum, located in the childhood home of baseball legend Al Lopez, will celebrate its grand opening Saturday at 10 a.m. Wagamama Asian Fusion To Open First FL Restaurant At Water Street Strategic Property Partners LLC announced Monday that Wagamama, a popular global Asian fusion restaurant brand, will debut its first Florida restaurant at Water Street Tampa. Wagamama, with U.S. locations in New York City and Boston, will bring its Asian-inspired cuisine to 1050 Water St., a coming residential development in the larger Water Street Tampa neighborhood, in early 2022. Expressway Authority Adds PayPal To Its Payment Options The Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority is offering PayPal to its growing list of payment options for customers to pay their past-due tolls at THEA's collections vendor, Valor Intelligent Processing. Embarc Collective Becomes Florida's Fastest-Growing Startup Hub Embarc Collective, a nonprofit startup hub that helps entrepreneurs build their businesses, announced that it is now home to 100 member startups, making it the fastest-growing startup hub in Florida. Beginning in March 2019 with just 25 member companies working virtually in its first phase, the organization expanded to 49 members after launching its 32,000-square-foot space in the old District warehouse at 802 E. Whiting St. in downtown Tampa in January 2020. Sprouts Now Hiring For New Tampa Heights Store Sprouts Farmers Market is planning to hire 90 people to open its new location in Tampa Heights Oct. 27. The opening is part of Sprouts' ongoing expansion into Tampa Bay. Conn's HomePlus Opens New Store In Port Richey Just in time for early Christmas shoppers, Conn's Inc. specialty retailer of furniture, mattresses, home appliances and consumer electronics has opened a new store in the Embassy Crossing Shopping Center at 9642 U.S. 19 in Port Richey. The opening of the Port Richey store this month marked the 10th Conn's HomePlus location to open in Florida in less than a year, bringing the total number of stores to 155 across 15 states. Job Growth In Hillsborough County Exceeds National Average Hillsborough County residents are having no trouble finding work as a result of increased job opportunities in the Tampa Bay area. According to the city of Tampa's Workforce Development team, job postings in areas like financial services and real estate increased 6 percent from 2015 to 2020.