Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 111

i NT TIMFS MONDAY, DFCFMRFR 10. 1qO Gift Mall from Page 1 from Page 1 win Among the popular novelty gifts are necklaces with charms that are small bottles full of bubble-blowing liquid, said Suzanne Salmon, Countryside Mall marketing director. 1 1 'A but it's true. These things take time." It's about time, said shoppers and store managers, "It's a nice mall. I like it.

I think it needs a facelift," said Rosemary Wiseman of Oldsmar. She and a friend who lives nearby had brought their children to the mall last week. "I remember when there was no other mall," she said. "I think we need some more stores," said her friend, Valerie Ansell. Sarah Wilson lives in Largo and usually shops at Largo Mall, but sometimes goes to Sunshine Mall because it is less "spread out." "It (Sunshine Mall) needs a change.

We need some new stores in here," Mrs. Wilson said. "I wouldn't go out of my way for it," said Ellen Chesis of Palm Harbor. "We just came down here today because our car is getting fixed and we could walk to it." Frank McMichael, manager of the JCPenney store in the mall, took over this job more than a year ago. "Quite frankly, I was stunned with the situation," he said.

"There was not a good reason for you or me to shop here." Since then JCPenney store has been remodeled, cleaned up and carries the same merchandise selves," Hildahl says. In Pinellas County malls, Bart Simpson items still are hot, mall officials say. "More (Bart Simpson) novelty stuff now like telephones, key chains," says Helena Gutierrez, assistant manager and marketing director of Tyrone Square Mall in St. Petersburg. "It's kind of getting away from the clothes and more toward the novelty." Among the popular novelty gifts are necklaces with charms that are small bottles full of bubble-blowing liquid, said Suzanne Salmon, Countryside Mall marketing director.

The bottles have screw-on lids that have bubble-blowers attached to them so the wearer ca off the lid and blow bubbles. This year, novelty items of years past have evolved. Last year's hand-held car doohickeys, which replaced unkind gestures by making machine gun, grenade and "death ray" noises at other motorists, have given way to a mean-looking, military-style plastic pig with a machine gun. It can be affixed to a car hood or roof, complete with sound effects from inside the car. Those dancing flowers have zo, manager of the Phar-Mor across the street.

"They have got a few other sites they are looking at." Fusco would like JByrons to stay, but in a different area of the mall. "We want to create space to accommodate them," Strecker said. JByrons officials could not be reached for comment. Strecker said the mall management's goal is to get more anchors large, popular stores that will draw people. Anchor stores take up most of the space in the most successful malls.

"We, over the years, have had a much higher ratio of smaller stores," Strecker said. In addition to Office Depot and perhaps Phar-Mor, Strecker is looking for another national anchor and a well-known cafeteria. In the past, as smaller stores have left, the spaces haven't been filled. Center managers are hoping to combine the smaller spaces and attract more anchors. "We need to be able to rearrange it," Strecker said.

"Most people wouldn't believe (that this is why they didn't fill the spaces) Timet photo JIM DAMASKE Construction is under way to move Office Depot in where Sports Unlimited used to be in Sunshine Mall in Clearwater. been joined by their cousins, the popular dancing beer and soda cans. They wear little headphones and sunglasses. Really. "Those Coke cans are really knocking the flowers out," Eyre said.

But not everything is as new and innovative as a dancing can. Some novelty ideas are old ones that will never die. "You want a good one?" Eyre says. "Mood rings are back. And we're just about sold out of them." Mood rings are popular in Pinellas County as well, mall officials say.

"They've been selling a lot of them," Gutierrez said. Staff writer Patty Curtin contributed to this report who has owned a Nacol Jewelers in the mall since it opened. "I don't have a lot of faith in the direction of the mall," Nacol said. "I think Sunshine Mall is going to have a rough time for the next three to five years." The addition of Office Depot and possibly Phar-Mor do not cheer him. "It's not a John Baldwin's, it's not a Wolf Brothers," he said, naming two upscale clothing stores.

that can be found at JCPenney stores at newer malls. "We have made a commitment to the mall. Now what we want is for the mall to do the same," he said. He said he has been pushing for mall management to do something. He has heard of plans for an interior remodeling next year.

"Quite frankly, I did more than twist their arm," he said. Management's promises weren't enough for Ron Nacol, Street from Page 1 "It's not even close, not in my mind anyway," said Nick Staszko, the city's community development director. Those two buildings "give us a framework for the development of downtown," but that's all, he said. Staszko said he hopes they will stimulate businesses to think about moving near the City Hall and library, to benefit from the people those buildings will draw to State Street. "I'd like to see some profes-' sional offices for attorneys, land surveyors, engineers," he said.

"And possibly a breakfast and lunch place. After all, you're going to have over 100 people working in one central location now." "Other businesses will want to come in," agreed Rockwell of the Oldsmar Homeowners Association. Pinta is convinced that the council to scale back to a bare-bones building. Meanwhile, the city also went thousands of dollars over its budget for renovating the current City Hall to convert it into a new home for the library. When a consultant the city hired to suggest ways to redevelop downtown proposed declaring it a slum to get special tax breaks, more than 160 angry downtown residents jammed a council meeting to protest.

The council fired the consultant and concentrated downtown redevelopment on State State. Framework for future Even when the new City Hall is complete and the library has moved into the renovated building across the street, the revival of State Street still won't be complete, city officials say. lic library is there, right next to the fire station. AmeriBank fills the site next door to where City Hall will be built, and the Chamber of Commerce has its headquarters in the bank building. In July, Tampa Electric Co.

(TECO) opened its first Pinellas County office on State Street, to serve TECO's 6,500 commercial and residential customers in North Pinellas and northwest Hillsborough. Until then, those customers drove to Tampa to do business with the utility. Mayor Tom Pinta, who has campaigned hard to revive State Street, hailed the new TECO office as "another stimulus for getting downtown going again." But the city has run into problems with its own attempts to resurrect the downtown. The plans for the new City Hall exceeded the original budget, prompting the whole downtown, not just State Street, will see a boom now, whether the city tries to promote it or not. "This area's going to develop regardless of ourselves," he said.

But council member Jerry Bev-erland, while agreeing with Pinta that the city should try to promote State Street's revival, is somewhat doubtful of how much more can be done there. "How much land is there down there to build on?" Beverland asked. The most prominent piece is the one Zegota owns, the one that 70 years ago contained a hardware store, restaurant and hotel. Its prospects do not match the hopes of city officials. For three years, Zegota said, "I have spent a sizable sum of money planning an office building there." Zegota's plans call for a building, con-' structed for about $l-million, which would have space for engineers, lawyers, accountants and maybe a small delicatessen a perfect match with Staszko's vision of State Street's future.

But so far Zegota has not succeeded in erecting more than a for sale sign on the property, thanks to the general economic slump. "Because of the market, I went into a holding pattern," he said. "I can't do it by myself. It's going to have to be a joint venture with somebody, or else I'm going to have to sell it." So unless Zegota is able to come up with a partner or a buyer before next year, the city's employees will be able to look out the windows of State Street's newest building, and see State Street's recent past: a vacant lot. worried it might be unsafe as well.

So after 16 years in the historic building, city officials moved their offices to North Shore Commerce Park, where they could rent space for $50,000 a year. They planned to build a new city hall in the northern part of town, in the proposed Cypress Lakes development. But residents complained about that decision and persuaded city officials to plan a return to State Street. So far, though, only the council has come back. It meets twice a month in the building the U.S.

Postal Service occupied until 1987. The new City Hall won't be ready until next August, city officials say. Meanwhile, State Street draws people for other reasons. The pub issue-in i vw i Any broker can recommend an investment purchase. But at Escalator Securities we tell you when to sell.

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