wealthiest part of the Tampa Bay Area (Miami, Boca Raton: hotel, homes)

[anhinga3]

To the OP: Many of the luxury brands you mentioned don't even have stores in Tampa Bay.
This region doesn't even have a 5 star hotel.
The wealth here is very limited. Tampa Bay is more blue collar.

[SeaSpur]

Originally Posted by anhinga3

To the OP: Many of the luxury brands you mentioned don't even have stores in Tampa Bay.
This region doesn't even have a 5 star hotel.
The wealth here is very limited. Tampa Bay is more blue collar.

Wut?

You can find stores in Tampa Bay for almost all of them:

Bentley, Ferrari, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin...all have dealers in Tampa Bay area.

You can find Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., and Burberry stores in Tampa.

Prada, Chanel, Cartier, and Rolex can be found at numerous stores across the Tampa Bay area.

Thanks for playing, though.

[anhinga3]

Yes, I was referring to independent STORES, not the fact that you can find Chanel at Nordstrom.

Other luxury brands without STORES in Tampa, but with stores in most major metros:

Ralph Lauren
Miu Miu
Armani
Versace
Sur La Table
Cartier
Hermes
Harry Winston
Dolce/Gabbana

And many many others. Thanks for playing, tho.

The Saks 5th Avenue at Westshore closed b/c it was a money loser (shocker). The Williams Sonoma at Hyde Park closed b/c it was a money loser. The Palm restaurant (a steak costs 40 dollars and up) closed in Tampa b/c it was a money loser.

Tampa has no Barney's, no Bloomingdales, no Lord&Taylor.

And there are no 5 star hotels in Tampa Bay as I said. The fact that Tampa has no Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons is embarrassing.

[floridagirl777]

Originally Posted by anhinga3

Yes, I was referring to independent STORES, not the fact that you can find Chanel at Nordstrom.

Other luxury brands without STORES in Tampa, but with stores in most major metros:

Ralph Lauren
Miu Miu
Armani
Versace
Sur La Table
Cartier
Hermes
Harry Winston
Dolce/Gabbana

And many many others. Thanks for playing, tho.

The Saks 5th Avenue at Westshore closed b/c it was a money loser (shocker).

And there are no 5 star hotels in Tampa Bay as I said. The fact that Tampa has no Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons is embarrassing.

How many people actually CARE whether or not these stores are in the city in which they live? Why does it even matter? If they really want the brand names, they can just go to whatever retailer sells them and buy them there.

[anhinga3]

The person who is doing the research on wealth trends in Tampa Bay cares. Which is why I answered his post.

And the trend in Tampa is the closing or absence of stores that cater to the wealthy. I.E., opposite of growth, as OP said.

I can assure you if wealth and the population of wealthy was growing exponentially in Tampa Bay, the Four Seasons would be breaking ground tomorrow.

[spbbound]

Originally Posted by anhinga3

And there are no 5 star hotels in Tampa Bay as I said. The fact that Tampa has no Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons is embarrassing.

Why is this embarrassing? The per capita wealth is not here, nor are there enough venues and/or events to attract a steady stream of very wealthy people to the area as visitors, so no, a $500+/night hotel would probably not survive any better than Saks did. I'm not clear on why this is something those of us who live here should be embarrassed about though? I don't consider my fellow residents' financial status something to be a source of scorn.

[anhinga3]

Luxury retail sales is a key economic indicator.

[spbbound]

Yes, wasn't asking for an economics lesson, I'm asking what about our current residents' financial status embarrasses you? You consider the city you live in to be an embarrassment if it's not ahead of the curve financially? Why not move to south Florida if this area's lack of visible wealth embarrasses you?

[DUNNDFRNT]

Originally Posted by anhinga3

The person who is doing the research on wealth trends in Tampa Bay cares. Which is why I answered his post.

And the trend in Tampa is the closing or absence of stores that cater to the wealthy. I.E., opposite of growth, as OP said.

I can assure you if wealth and the population of wealthy was growing exponentially in Tampa Bay, the Four Seasons would be breaking ground tomorrow.

I am with you with the stores, but it seems that we just dint have the numbers to sustain those stores, it's been a while but I remember going over some research at a marketing class about how online stores at contributing to the nationwide decline in high end stores, something like a high percentage of six figure earners shop at Amazon believe it or not, be that as it may it's true big high end stores like Saks don't fare well in Tampa I believe it's a volume thing. However I don't think the lack of hotels is a strong indicator of local wealth, are the local population supposed to stay at this hotels? People that visit the local wealthy population? A lot of tourist stay at beach front properties many of whom at priced comparable to a hotel room at the Ritz.

[roadtrip75]

The fact that the super-rich have no presence in Tampa is one of its more endearing qualities.