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By JANIS D. FROELICH, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 10, 2007

TAMPA - From gooey chocolate treats to hot red shearling jackets, the urban core has loads of shopping. But how to put out the word?

That was the challenge for the Tampa Downtown Partnership, which for years has relied mostly on brochures and guidebooks to promote stores and restaurants in the six neighborhoods considered the greater downtown, including the Channel District.

Now an all-purpose Web site is up and running. Features of the site, www.hilifetampa.com, include community profiles with links to major places, getting around information and searchable dining lists by favorite cuisine. Also, a real estate search link and events calendar are included.

Coming soon, said Paul Ayres, the partnership's marketing director, is HiLife Tampa, where a local personality will take Web site visitors on a tour of downtown sites such as the Tampa Theatre and H.B. Plant Hall.

The Web project, including creating the HiLife logo, cost $20,000. The partnership is funded partly by an assessment placed on downtown property owners. Ayres estimates the area includes about 300 retailers and restaurants, plus places such as hotels and barbershops.

Two merchants say the extra push is long overdue.

Chris Blowers, owner of Greiner's Fine Men's Clothing, and Candy Qachbal, owner of Qachbal's Chocolatier, both have steady business but say they are challenged by the paradox of generating more customers in a crowded urban core.

More Residents, Fewer Buyers

Since it was established in 1981, Greiner's has offered the latest fashions for men, with probably the biggest change coming recently, when Blowers and his wife, Lisa, decided to expand to include women's wear.

Lisa Blowers is an agent for Jamie Mascaro shoes, but her husband said it didn't make sense to sell just the designer's high-end ballet slippers and other styles. So pajamas, blouses, belts, jackets and skirts have been added; the red shearling jacket retails for $2,250.

The number of downtown dwellers is growing. About 1,000 people live in the urban area, the partnership estimates. Condominium construction continues despite a shaky market - the Slade in the Channel District and Element in downtown are both under way.

Still, Chris Blowers thinks the number of downtown buyers for his goods is shrinking. He said the bank or insurance executive who used to shop at his store but since has been transferred to another city is not the same as the owner of a $200,000 downtown condo.

He said downtown office workers used to account for about 75 percent of his customers, but now it's about 30 percent.

Blowers said he's baffled as to why the city isn't "more retail-friendly." The parking meters outside his store allow customers only 30 minutes, so he leased four spaces behind his building, 117 E. Whiting St., for $110 a month each.

Blowers said he hopes the partnership's Web site signals a more aggressive direction for marketing established businesses and encouraging new ones.

A Sweet Advertising Campaign

Qachbal says ditto to that. When she and her husband, Mohammed, and daughter, Crystal Kelley, opened the Channelside Bay Plaza chocolate store two years ago, they did so because of a love for finely made sweets.

Qachbal had business savvy, too, as a Hyatt hotel manager for seven years, but she felt destined to be a candy-maker.

"My maiden name was Candy Case," she said, "and at the convenience store my grandmother ran, she always teased me about the candy case being mine."

About half of the candies at Qachbal's Chocolatier, 615 Channelside Drive, are handmade: pretzels dipped in chocolate, turtle-like pecan and chocolate pieces, and layer cakes. Qachbal also buys truffles at $3 a piece from a San Francisco company.

But attracting sweet tooths can be a challenge.

"It can be pretty quiet in the daytime in Channelside," Qachbal said. "Yet I don't know how many times people on their lunch hour come in and say, 'I didn't know you were around the corner.'"

As for the downtown partnership's Web effort, she said, "The site looks great. Getting our name out there is always the biggest job."

Reporter Janis D. Froelich can be reached at (813) 835-2104 or jfroelich@tampatrib.com.

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