Ace Hardware notified the state on Oct. 1 that it plans to lay off all of its workers at the Retail Support Center at 1220 U.S. Highway 301. Ace Hardware, known as a giant corporation in the hardware retailer space, is in the process of relocating its Tampa center to a nearby location in Plant City. The Tampa location will be permanently closed. “We plan to offer equivalent opportunities to all incumbent employees at the new Plant City location in the interim,” the letter read to the state read. The first group of employees will relocate to the Plant City location in mid-December. Over 100 of the affected workers are warehouse specialists. Twenty-two managers/supervisors will be affected, along with 27 drivers and other positions.
The first head coach to lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl victory will no longer be a part of the team’s Ring of Honor. Less than 24 hours after Jon Gruden resigned from his post as head coach of the Oakland Raiders over several years-old offensive emails, the Bucs announced his removal from the Ring of Honor. In a statement, the team said the leaked emails were against their core values as an organization. Gruden finished his tenure with the Buccaneers with a 57-55 record, making him the winningest head coach in franchise history.
Brightline, an intercity rail provider based in South Florida, is now targeting a 2028 opening date for a rail service that would begin in Miami and end in Tampa. The rail operator has continuously evolved its timeline of delivering rail service between the two metros. Brightline would utilize the Orlando International Airport as the main Orlando terminus and connect to a location in Tampa, which the site of the station has not been revealed. The cost of a Brightline ticket between Miami and Orlando would be around $100. There would be a stop at Disney Springs between the two cities. From Disney, it will be an 84-mile extension to Tampa.
There will be no back-to-back trips to the World Series for Tampa Bay, as Boston eliminated the Rays from the playoffs with a 6-5 win Monday night. The Red Sox jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the third inning, though the Rays would once again battle back to tie the game in the eighth. The rally came up short, however, when Boston's Kike Hernandez hit a sacrifice fly ball to score pinch-runner Danny Santana in the ninth inning. After winning a controversial Game 3 in the 13th inning on Sunday night, Hernandez gave the Red Sox their second straight walk-off win, the first time the team has accomplished the feat since 2004. The Red Sox move on to the American League Championship Series, where they will face either the Houston Astros or the Chicago White Sox.
The Tampa Bay Lightning begin their defense of a second-straight Stanly Cup against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night. The regular-season home opener will also feature a new edition to Amalie Arena - a third championship banner. The Lightning lost several key players in the offseason but on Monday the team awarded coach Jon Cooper with a three-year extension that will keep him in Tampa Bay through 2024-2025. Cooper has spent nine years with the franchise, making him the NHL's longest-tenured coach.
The Community Foundation Tampa Bay has established the George and Mimi Frank Environmental Endowment, with a gift of $1,055,000 that will support nonprofit organizations focused on protecting, restoring and improving the natural environment within the Tampa Bay region. Grants from the endowment will be made to nonprofits on a rotating basis, with guidance provided by regional councils located throughout the area.
The 569,6750square-foot DeSoto Square Mall in Bradenton will be auctioned following a bankruptcy. The mall on 57.86 acres at 303 301 Blvd. West. A bid deposit of $1 million will be required by Oct. 12 to participate in the auction. In September 2020, the prior owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and the mall officially closed its doors in April 2021. Hudson’s Furniture currently occupies one of the large anchor spaces, according to the listing.
It took 13 innings and an obscure ruling, but the Boston Red Sox hung on to defeat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-4 Sunday night after a walk-off, two-run homer by Christian Vazquez. Tampa Bay rallied from a 4-2 deficit to tie the game in the eighth inning, and the score would remain 4-all into the fourth extra inning. Kevin Kiermaier hit a two-out long ball in the top of the 13th that bounced off the right-center wall, hit Red Sox right fielder Hunter Renfrow, and then flew back over the short wall. Kiermaier was awarded a ground-rule double and baserunner Yandy Diaz – who had already reached home plate – was forced to go back to third base. Mike Zunino would then strikeout to leave the runners stranded. Boston now leads the best-of-five series 2-1.
The development group behind The Coastal Collection, a five unit, premium waterfront townhome in Treasure Island, held its groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday. The luxury development is a joint partnership between Build America LLC and Barkett Realty. The development, at 11793-11801 1st Ave. East, currently has two available units remaining. Construction on the project is expected to be completed in 2022.
The Tampa Bay Rowdies won their ninth-straight match on Thursday, and are now just one win from clinching the Atlantic Division of the United States Soccer League for the second year in a row. The Rowdies can clinch the division on the road Sunday when they face the third-place Pittsburgh Riverhounds. The team has already locked down a home playoff game at Al Lang Stadium and recently broke their single-season points record with 61 and counting. The Rowdies made it to the USL Championship game last October, but the match was canceled after numerous positive Covid tests.
Royal Caribbean will resume its operations at Port Tampa Bay starting on Oct. 16-making it the first sailing since the pandemic started in March 2020. Royal Caribbean International’s Serenade of the Seas will depart for the Bahamas from Port Tampa Bay on that date. Since the pandemic started and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a no-sail order, the port has lost millions in revenue.
The South Florida-based investment firm 1754 Properties, which owns the TradeWinds Resort in St. Pete Beach, announced it has bought the historic Floridian Palace Hotel in Tampa. The sales price of the 212-room hotel and the parking lot was not disclosed. The hotel, at 905 N. Florida Ave., was previously owned by Theros Parking and Antonakos Florida. It opened in 1927 as Florida’s first skyscraper.
