Business Observer 11.26.09

+ Caragiulo family to open new restaurant
The Caragiulo brothers, owners of two Caragiulo’s Italian restaurants in Sarasota and Bradenton, plan to open a seafood restaurant in Burns Square.

Owen’s Fish Camp will be located next to Burns Court Cinema, where the old 5-One-6 Burns restaurant used to be.

The new restaurant’s name comes from Sarasota Pioneer Owen Burns, who built that building in 1926.
Owen’s Fish Camp will be a bar and restaurant, serving a variety of seafood influenced by the cuisine of New England, the Mid-Atlantic and the deep South. Diners will be treated to folk and bluegrass music.

It’s scheduled to open by the end of the year.

+ Haute threads find new home in prominent space
L. Boutique owner LeeAnne Swor is thrilled about her new location at 556 Pineapple Ave. After transitioning from a two-story building with separate stores, the new boutique is now one level and offers one-stop-shopping, plus a new line of home items from London called Designers Guild.

More than 100 people attended the private grand opening Friday, Nov. 20 — store windows were filled with models posing in designer clothing.

“I think it’s going be even better than before,” Swor said. “I’m excited that we’re right at the intersection in Burns Square where there’s more walk-by traffic.”

+ ‘Tasti’ desserts sweeten up area locations
What started out as a New York frozen-dessert phenomenon more than 20 years ago has finally reached Sarasota. Tasti D-Lite on St. Armands Circle, 327A St. Armands Circle, held its grand opening and ceremonial ribbon-cutting Friday, Nov. 13, at its Westfield Southgate Mall location, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail. (The ribbon-cutting ceremony location switch was due to a fire at a nearby business earlier that morning.) D-Lite dessert chefs manned the mall-store entrance with trays of samples and handed them out to shoppers as they passed. The celebration continued through the weekend, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Boys and Girls Club of Sarasota County.

+ Education Channel gets 2009 Gold MarCom Award
The Education Channel received a 2009 Gold MarCom Award for an episode of the series, “Your Money at Work,” which showcasd the Sarasota County School District’s energy-saving measures.

The 30-minute program airs regularly on the district’s cable television station and explores such initiatives as the green-certified products, fuel-efficient buses and an effort to bring more locally-grown products to school cafeterias.

The award recognizes creative achievement in a variety of media and categories and is administered internationally by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals. This year, nearly 5,000 entries throughout the U.S. and several foreign countries were submitted.