Haslam’s, Coney Island, the Wagon Wheel: What do we know?

The fate of three long-established St. Petersburg businesses is apparently still undecided.

Victims of the Covid-19 pandemic, Haslam’s Books, Coney Island Grill and the Wagon Wheel Flea Market remain closed, their owners tight-lipped.

Subsequently, the social media rumor mill has been in overdrive. Owners are in talks with developers, waiting for the big payday, they say. A deal is imminent. A deal fell through. Condos are coming. There are problems, issues, holdups, but – according to rumor – these beloved businesses are as good as gone.

None of the properties are listed for sale, as least publicly, in real estate listings. There are no “For Sale” signs anywhere. This, of course, doesn’t necessarily mean some negotiations aren’t underway behind closed doors.

The truth is, no one on the outside really knows. Nobody’s talking.

Haslam’s, which has been at 2025 Central Ave. since 1964, closed in March 2020. Like all “non-essential” establishments, Haslam’s was shuttered when the pandemic first swept the United States.

Related Reading: Vintage St. Pete: Haslam’s Book Store

The Haslam family opened the first iteration of their shop in 1933. Forty years later, Suzanne Haslam and her husband, Raymond Hinst, became owner/managers.

In 2021, the business’ online designation was changed to “permanently closed.” Around that time, Hinst responded to an email from a Tampa Bay Times reporter: “For a variety of personal and professional reasons Suzanne and I are still undecided about reopening the bookstore to the public. We appreciate everyone’s interest and are trying to consider all aspects of the situation.”

In 2022, Haslam’s Book Store Inc. sold land adjacent to the store – a vacant corner lot at 1st Avenue N. and 22nd Street – to CND-Kenwood LLC for $1 million.

Since then, radio silence.

Calls to Hinst for this story were not immediately returned.

Coney Island Grill, 250 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, St. N, opened next door in 1926. Photo by Bill DeYoung.

Greek immigrant Panagiotio Hilipholus came to the United States in 1918; as Peter Barlas, he opened Coney Island Grill in 1926, and ran the restaurant – with his sons George and Hank – until his death in 1984.

Specializing in hot dogs smothered in chili, Coney Island had been at 250 9^th Street N. – next door to its first location – since 1950.

Related Reading: Vintage St. Pete: Peter Barlas and Coney Island

Coney Island closed up shop in 2020 due the pandemic, re-opened briefly the following year, then closed again.

Today Hank Barlas is 88 years old. He is listed on the Pinellas County Property Appraiser’s site as co-owner of the shop – and several adjacent, attached buildings – with his son, Peter.

Calls to Hank Barlas and Peter Barlas for this story were not immediately returned.

Hardy Huntley’s 125-acre Wagon Wheel Flea Market. 1966-2020 at 7801 Park Blvd., Pinellas Park. File photo.

The 125-acre Wagon Wheel Flea Market, a weekend destination for thousands since December, 1967, also went dark in 2020. It was one of Florida’s longest-lived covered and open-air flea markets.

North Carolina’s Hardy Huntley operated a used car lot and tractor repair service; he was also a “junk” collector who started selling his finds at the lot. This led to the establishment of the flea market, similar to the “trade days” Huntley remembered from back home.

Huntley later bought and sold real estate in the area, including the Mustang Drive-in theater, five blocks east of his flea market. The drive-in closed in 1993, and the vacant land became home to a second flea market. When Huntley sold it (there’s a Lowe’s and a Publix there today), the Mustang Flea Market vendors moved to the Wagon Wheel, almost doubling its size.

As it grew, all five of Huntley’s children worked at the Wagon Wheel.

He died in 2013, at age 77. Son David Huntley was by then the 2,500-stall market’s manager.

The Wagon Wheel closed in March, 2020. In June, this announcement appeared on the business’ Facebook page:

To our beloved vendors and patrons, It is with a heavy-heart that we share with you the news that the Wagon Wheel and Mustang Flea Markets will not be reopening. After almost 55 years of continuous business the time has come for us to say farewell. Thank all of you for your patronage and support. This has been the most difficult decision we have ever made as a family. We wish you all the best. It is with tears and fond memories that we say goodbye and thank you. The Huntley Family.

Siblings David, Linda and Dawn Huntley were joint owners of Huntley Properties, which became Huntley Properties and Landholdings, LLC in June, 2021.

Dawn Huntley Maddox of Allen, Texas is listed as Manager.

File photo.