Florida

[otlass]

Hello and a Happy 2013 to everyone!
I am thinking of relocating my shop- workroom to the Tampa area, focusing on the same model as now, custom furniture and re-upholstery, catering to  upscale interior designers and architects. So I am trying to get a feel of the pulse for the area. Any input or ideas are appreciated.
Thank you

[forsailbyowner]

Hi There, I've been living in or around Tampa for 30 yrs off and on. Tampa is a large spread out city. What area are you looking at?

[otlass]

Thanks,
My wife is from Tampa, so I know the area a little bit it seems the affluent parts are south tampa and this is also where my wife is looking to work at.
Put I am open to all ideas.

[Mojo]

I currently live in the Tampa area but I specialize in RV work only. Paul ( Min Ump ) does upholstery work for a shop near Tampa. That shop is fairly close to the coast and located in Holiday or New Port Richey I believe.

Tampa was hard hit by the recession and home prices are still dirt cheap. The affluent areas I do believe were not hit as hard. There are a large amount of snowbirds as well as year around residents. How this would play out in furniture upholstery is beyond me.

I wished I could be of more help but am so far removed from the furniture end of this business that I can offer no input. Maybe Paul can add something here. I do know if your going to rent commercial space bring a lot of money. Commercial leases are expensive.

The most influential areas of the Gulf Coast are Venice, Naples and of course the millionaires paradise Marco Island. Marco Island is loaded with millionaires but is so dang expensive to live or work there it isn't funny.

Chris

[MinUph]

Yes I work at a shop in Tarpon Springs. We do a fair amount of work in Tampa it'self. From what I've picked up on in my time down here is Design houses are where you will get the most business out of. When we came down here from Upstate NY I was told "You will do fine" Well where we live an hour north of Tampa proper there is very little work. But down south there seems to be much more. Tampa, west and south that is.
  The shop I work at has been around for over 25 years so he has a good following. And many designers use us. Starting out it will be slow but if your good and can do it at a fair price you will grow anywhere. Pricing is NOT what it is in other parts of the country.
  Good luck.

[Mike]

im about an hour and a half south of tampa south of sarasotta just sourth of venice  .
I moved here from NH in 2004 when I did there were about 3 strikly upholstery shop around me sence then it has gone down to 1 who working out of a snall industrial space driving a 30 year old van . I hink if your wife has a good job you may be able to get going .
I should add im strickly a marine guy and know nothing of the furniture business.
id look into gow many shop are in the area your looking and  figure out why  I came from an area where there wasn't any completion for 20 miles and moved to an area where there were at least 6 in the phone book in the same county  maybe lees now for sure

[otlass]

Thanks guys, that is all very helpful to get a feel for the area. Chris you where saying commercial lease is expensive, is that like $ 4.- a foot or $8 a foot? I am looking at about 1800sqft. I see there is some commercial stuff around the airport, do you guys know anything about it?
Paul you say pricing is not what it is in other parts of the country, any reference to what that translates to an hourly charge $ 40.- or is it more like 70.-
I am pretty confident about the quality of my work, I have done it for 35 years now and the clientele here is pretty demanding. Mostly very well of 2nd home owners, and I never had any issues with their designers from either coast. I am in Montana.

[Mojo]

Paul brings up a good point.

North of Tampa is pretty much blue collar and a hard area to market your trade. Tampa and South towards Sarasota would be better as there are more effluent people located there.

It will take a while to get established. I am not sure of lease costs but have talked to a few business owners and they were complaining about their rents. Strip malls down here are outrageously expensive which is why half of them sit vacant. You might want to search the local classifieds down there to find out. You also need to watch what neighborhoods you get into. Tampa can be VERY rough in some areas with high crime and your customers wont want to travel into these areas.

Have you considered working out of your garage till you can get established ? Most of us down here did that. I am still working out of my house and Mike had a store front that he rented but just went back to his home and built a shop as well. You might want to ask him how much he paid in rent.

Chris

[otlass]

The problem working out of a garage is space, I got to much stuff, a full woodworking room, 3 12ft cutting tables and 4 sewing machines, that is just what I can think of at the moment, and having moved the shop once before, I remember how much fun it is to move! :).

[JuneC]

On this side of Florida you can get small shops for about $1 a foot per month in a decent warehouse neighborhood.  Something with a store front will run maybe 50% more.  Large shops run less - say a 3000 sq. ft. shop can be had for $2500 a month.  AC in the shop runs more (as well as your electric, of course).  I would expect Tampa to be slightly less than that. 

June

[SHHR]

My wife is from Tampa and she said South Tampa is where the "Old Money" is. Her grandmother lived there and a very rich, ritzy area, but she also said it's an area (or was) an area that was full of people who didn't like to part with their money and when they did it was for the best only available, so if you cater to the upscale designers, this may be your spot. My wife is from the Carrolwood/Lutz area and looks to be weathier, but I suspect is more so of people with big credit rather than money. Last Christmas when we were there you could tell it was hit hard by the economy.
By the way Paul, we love the Tarpon Springs area. My wife has family there too and when there we always hit the sponge docks and head to Dimitri's. A great greek restaraunt.
Kyle

[forsailbyowner]

It seems to me the wealth is pretty much spread out around tampa. The area along bayshore has the highest property values along with palma ciea near the country club. South tampa itself is pretty low rent below interbay. Middle of road from there north to bay to bay where the values rise, dropping off past hyde park. Around new tampa is pretty upscale. The wealthy areas are mostly gated communities. Hunters green has a large section of million dollar plus homes along with cheval and avila a little to the west. As far as rents go it all depends, there's a lot of empty space and there are deals to be had with some searching. A low rent beats a place sitting empty. 

[Mike]

I happened to inquire about a couple spots today bolth industrial space 1 2500 sf at $1000month  second was  about 1000 SF $400 month

[otlass]

That is all very helpful, the prices are similar to what rent is around here, I am paying $ 1800.- right now for 3000 sqft. Which is more than I really need, with only 1 employee, a lot of chunks collects if you have to much room.

[Mojo]

Those are very good prices Mike. I have heard double those prices up here.

You should see the rent on these small storefronts in strip malls. Some business owners told me they are paying $ 5 and 6 K per month. Ridicolous. I watch these businesses open and close within a year or two.

The funny thing is that I can count 3 or 4 of these little strip malls that have vacancy rates of
80 %. They wont lower their rents and the word I got was that the corporate owners ( read huge companies ) leave them vacant as tax write offs.

For what I would pay in rent over a two year period I can build my own 2,000 sq ft shop out back.
I hate putting money into other peoples pockets. especially through rent. But then there are times one has no choice.

Chris