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Old 04-30-2014, 06:22 PM
 
41 posts, read 75,656 times
Reputation: 46

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Yes, it's embarrassing to have to explain to wealthy clients who fly in from elsewhere shopping for property that there is no 5 star hotel for them to stay at, despite Tampa Bay being a Top 15 metro area in the USA with three pro sports teams and a burgeoning population. These people don't stay at the Hilton or even the Vinoy.
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Old 04-30-2014, 06:40 PM
 
Location: South Tampa
1,163 posts, read 2,088,421 times
Reputation: 1069
Quote:
Originally Posted by anhinga3 View Post
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.
Exactly, and you were wrong. There were only 4 of the 10+ brands listed that don't have STORES in Tampa.

To me, 4 of 12 is not "many" as you suggested. You can have your opinion, but don't mislead others who may be reading here for an honest assessment.

Besides, if you read the news today...looks like Dolce & Gabbana may be closing some more stores after they are convicted of tax evasion and serve time in jail. What will people do without having access to their products?!?! OMG.

Last edited by SeaSpur; 04-30-2014 at 06:50 PM..
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Old 04-30-2014, 07:25 PM
 
819 posts, read 1,394,486 times
Reputation: 961
Quote:
Originally Posted by DUNNDFRNT View Post
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.
I feel that is correct as well. I buy a lot of expensive things and I pretty much hate doing it in person, wasting my time, when a few clicks can accomplish the same thing and let me spend more time with my wife and kid. I even bought a Lamborghini online from a franchised dealer an hour further away because they would let me conduct the transaction without having to make an appointment to come in and talk it over; drove in, signed, was out the door in 30 minutes or less.

Quote:
Originally Posted by anhinga3 View Post
Yes, it's embarrassing to have to explain to wealthy clients who fly in from elsewhere shopping for property that there is no 5 star hotel for them to stay at, despite Tampa Bay being a Top 15 metro area in the USA with three pro sports teams and a burgeoning population. These people don't stay at the Hilton or even the Vinoy.
My first curiosity is why you're even in this area? I'm assuming you're a realtor of some sort, and it seems disingenuous to attempt to sell a client a home in an area you consider embarrassing. That brings us to the clients. If your clients truly consider a stay in the Hilton or Vinoy to be an affront, how could such a person possibly get any enjoyment out of the Tampa Bay area? They certainly wouldn't enjoy hanging out at Skippers Smokehouse or a beach bar with good ol' boys in tank tops. There are only a handful of 'high class' things to do here, and I'm sure all could be hit in the course of a few weeks; then what do they do?

In any case, I've met a lot of ultra wealthy people both locally, and all around the country, from both auto racing events we've participated in together, and organized exotic car drives we've gone on together. Using my racing hobby as an example, I race in a non-pro series that requires about $300k/year to run in, at an entry level. Others who race with me have equipment and support teams that look straight out of Formula 1, and they fly to the track in their own helicopters; they're easily spending a few million/year on the same hobby. After the day is done though, we all hang out at what is typically a $80/night-caliber track side hotel and talk about cars over cheap drinks. They could have just as easily flown back out to stay elsewhere but they would rather stay in the run down hotel to hang out with people who share common interests. Perhaps wealthy car people are not representative of other wealthy folks and I've just experienced something uncommon? Most wealthy people I've met do not behave the way you suggest they do.
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Old 04-30-2014, 08:35 PM
 
1,024 posts, read 1,788,961 times
Reputation: 981
Quote:
Originally Posted by spbbound View Post
My first curiosity is why you're even in this area? I'm assuming you're a realtor of some sort, and it seems disingenuous to attempt to sell a client a home in an area you consider embarrassing. That brings us to the clients. If your clients truly consider a stay in the Hilton or Vinoy to be an affront, how could such a person possibly get any enjoyment out of the Tampa Bay area? They certainly wouldn't enjoy hanging out at Skippers Smokehouse or a beach bar with good ol' boys in tank tops. There are only a handful of 'high class' things to do here, and I'm sure all could be hit in the course of a few weeks; then what do they do?

In any case, I've met a lot of ultra wealthy people both locally, and all around the country, from both auto racing events we've participated in together, and organized exotic car drives we've gone on together. Using my racing hobby as an example, I race in a non-pro series that requires about $300k/year to run in, at an entry level. Others who race with me have equipment and support teams that look straight out of Formula 1, and they fly to the track in their own helicopters; they're easily spending a few million/year on the same hobby. After the day is done though, we all hang out at what is typically a $80/night-caliber track side hotel and talk about cars over cheap drinks. They could have just as easily flown back out to stay elsewhere but they would rather stay in the run down hotel to hang out with people who share common interests. Perhaps wealthy car people are not representative of other wealthy folks and I've just experienced something uncommon? Most wealthy people I've met do not behave the way you suggest they do.
Great post! Tampa DOES have many wealthy people; they are just pretty laid back and not in any way pretentious. My husband and I are friends with many wealthy people in the Tampa Bay area, and NONE of them care where people shop or how many stars a hotel has (provided the hotel is not a dump).
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Old 04-30-2014, 09:11 PM
 
Location: South Tampa, Maui, Paris
4,437 posts, read 3,752,435 times
Reputation: 5193
Tampa cannot be compared to cities with true wealth and the requisite shops that sell to those rich people. It's unfair to Tampa bay.

People in Tampa are fine with Macys or Target. Many of them may not even know what a Barney's is.


Even the "wealthy" neighborhoods in the Tampa area are dumps compared to the wealthy neighborhoods in DC, Miami, Boston, Dallas etc.

Just an unfair comparison.
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Old 05-01-2014, 01:15 AM
 
Location: Florida
7,719 posts, read 6,274,512 times
Reputation: 15684
That description sounds like Palm Beach, West Palm and Boca Raton, other coast.
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Old 05-01-2014, 05:38 AM
 
Location: Tampa, FL
27,798 posts, read 32,210,162 times
Reputation: 14611
Quote:
Originally Posted by sinatras View Post
Tampa cannot be compared to cities with true wealth and the requisite shops that sell to those rich people. It's unfair to Tampa bay.

People in Tampa are fine with Macys or Target. Many of them may not even know what a Barney's is.


Even the "wealthy" neighborhoods in the Tampa area are dumps compared to the wealthy neighborhoods in DC, Miami, Boston, Dallas etc.

Just an unfair comparison.


Snobbish post.
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Old 05-01-2014, 06:13 AM
 
792 posts, read 2,281,180 times
Reputation: 822
Quote:
Originally Posted by EuroLT View Post
Hello All,
Hope all of you are doing well. I am a writer for a major European magazine publication and I am doing a story about Tampa Bay in Florida (USA) and their expansive growth industries. I wanted to ask you all if you can help me with this question. Which part of the Tampa Bay area (Tampa, St. Pete. etc) is considered the most affluent, ritzy, and expensive ? This part of town would be where all the you would see people driving exotic cars like Bentley, Ferrari, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin…… etc. This would be the part of town where people would people wearing high end designers like Prada, Channel, Louis Vitton, Tiffany & Co., Cartier, Rolex, and Burburry.etc. I am doing an article on the growth of the Tampa Bay Area, and wanted to know where the wealthy in this area are living. Thanks for the help
The thing you gotta understand about Tampa Bay and pretty much Florida in general is that you can have million dollar homes and two blocks away have a trailer park.
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Old 05-01-2014, 06:17 AM
 
792 posts, read 2,281,180 times
Reputation: 822
Quote:
Originally Posted by sinatras View Post
Tampa cannot be compared to cities with true wealth and the requisite shops that sell to those rich people. It's unfair to Tampa bay.

People in Tampa are fine with Macys or Target. Many of them may not even know what a Barney's is.


Even the "wealthy" neighborhoods in the Tampa area are dumps compared to the wealthy neighborhoods in DC, Miami, Boston, Dallas etc.

Just an unfair comparison.
LOL.

DC??? are you serious. I would only choose to live in DC if Detroit was my only other option. And i'm dead serious.
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Old 05-01-2014, 06:58 AM
 
6,582 posts, read 4,954,475 times
Reputation: 3673
Quote:
Originally Posted by BucFan View Post
Snobbish post.
It is, its also asinine, anything can be anythign compared to something else, by the same logic those places are dumps compared to the islands of the world in dubai, Sulphur springs is opulent compared to Liberia (Vice documentary on Liberia, insane). i would say that is one of pet peeves and unfortunately I see that a lot in South Tampa especially with food, I was telling a parent in my kids school about this duck and grape fried rice at the yummi house, he started talking about Chinese Food he had in San Francisco, WTH does that have to do with anything, tell me about a place I can drive to.
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