Other business owners not worried about new mall

Coconut Point in Estero is the new kid on the retail block in south Lee County, but business owners at the Promenade at Bonita Bay aren’t worried.

They figure a huge mall in Estero will draw crowds but won’t be a big enough threat to bully them out of business.

“The curiosity factor always attracts people to a big mall like that but hopefully we won’t feel much of a squeeze,” said Danielle Weiner, the owner of the Promenade Ben & Jerry’s since 1999.

Some impact could be felt this month as more stores open for the holiday season, but shop owners say the Promenade offers quality instead of quantity.

“Coconut Point is a wonderful mall for the masses but when people really want personal attention and to be taken care of we will do a better job,” said Michelle Buonocore, who has been the owner of The Paper Merchant at the Promenade for seven years.

“I’m in the business of service, and personal attention is something I’m very fussy about.”

Buonocore has a reason to be fussy. She owns two other stores in Naples and knows that her customers come back for good service.

And, that’s just a unique experience that a gigantic mall like Coconut Point can’t offer, she said.

“All the stores at the Promenade are on the whole, individually-owned smaller stores. We give people good service and have a reputation for it,” Buonocore said.

Unlike Coconut Point, the Promenade in Bonita Springs on U.S. 41 offers clothes boutiques, art galleries and stores that specialize and customize gifts.

“I don’t think that it will have a big effect although there will probably be a lot of interest,” said store manager Diane Shaw of Jamie’s, a contemporary clothes store for ages 40 to 85.

Jamie’s sister store JCC, also at the Promenade, offers high quality fashion but Shaw insists that Coconut Point won’t be suitable for those with little time.

“I think people will come back here because I’m certain that it’s enjoyable to go through racks but sometimes people don’t have time for that,” Shaw said referring to large stores like Dilliard’s and Ross Dress for Less, which are at Coconut Point.

These larger stores also don’t offer personal service such as coordinating outfits and talking to people about their personal style in the way that Jamie’s does, said Shaw.

“We have time for customers and that will keep bringing them back,” Shaw said.
Kelly Chasnov, the owner of Eyetopian Optical at the Promenade, feels that Coconut Point will be good for business owners at the Promenade.

“It won’t bother us. If anything, it will bring more peoplte to the area so it benefits us. They are huge but in the end, it will be good for us,” said Chasnov, whose store offers luxury eye wear and custom frames.

“This is going to put Bonita Springs on the map as a place to shop. I don’t view it as a threat by any means.”

The Mole Hole’s Holly Oakes agrees that the differences between corporate stores and private ones are too great for the Promenade to see a change.

“Any retailer will be concerned to a certain point but we have loyal customers here and they know that we are individually owned and more personal,” Oakes said.

Weiner sees the positives, too, and understands that Coconut Point is big business but not big enough.

“The new kid on the block always gets business at first but we will all be okay,” she said.

Stage 88 fits the bill for downtown

The show must go on and Stage 88 is doing what it can to make sure its original shows and musicals are displayed for all to see — especially those in the downtown area of Bonita Springs.

Stage 88, a local theater company out of Naples, recently found itself searching for a new venue after its Naples location began offering too many activities.

At the same time, the city of Bonita Springs began working on a community redevelopment plan that would draw full-time residents, seasonal residents and visitors to the downtown Bonita area.

“A downtown district is the heart of the community and a gathering place for Bonita residents and visitors,” said Mark McClellan, the artistic director for Stage 88.

Stage 88 had exactly what the city had been looking for because the community theater group runs shows year-round and offers art lovers a unique opportunity to hear and see local writers’ work on display.

“The ultimate goal is to get downtown to be a thriving district like Fort Myers and Naples are. Bonita Springs is one of the faster growing parts of the area and we are between Naples and Fort Myers,” said McClellan, who has two shows scheduled for the winter season.

The season, which started Nov. 2, includes “Friday’s” and two productions written by locals called “Four-Part Thunder” and “There Ain’t No Women in Heaven.”

“Bonita Springs doesn’t lack culture because there are a lot of avenues for it, but this will be a focal point for it because everybody can come,” said McClellan, who added that the company will perform community outreach and host other local theatre groups for the summer season.

The new home of Stage 88 will be at the community hall in the Old 41 corridor of downtown Bonita, and officials are hoping to draw a crowd.

The venue will seat 97, and Stage 88 has built a modular stage.

“A lot of things are happening and there really is a great desire and motivation to get people back into the downtown area and revitalize it,” McClellan said. “We are glad we can be a part of what is to come in the future of Bonita Springs.”

Spring Creek gets donation for school sign

The Parent Teacher Organization at Spring Creek Elementary got an offer they couldn’t resist when the phone rang and NCH Healthcare wanted to donate $12,600 to pay for a new school sign.

“It’s wonderful! We are ever so grateful,” said Karen Leonardi, the school’s principal.

The offer puts to rest years of efforts by the parent-led organization to raise money to purchase a new sign that would replace the current sign that is hardly recognizable.

“We just really needed this because the sign that we have is kind of old and it’s got plants growing out of the center of it,” said Jennifer Schaffer, the PTO president who pushed to have the sign donated to the school.

Schaffer had heard that NCH donated money to schools because her daughter used to attend a Collier County school and figured she had nothing to lose by asking them to donate to a Lee County school.

“I called them and they said yes. They wanted to break into the Lee school market and Bonita Springs is closest to their hospital on Immokalee,” Schaffer said.

The donated sign will carry the name of the school and will be broken up into three parts, said Leonardi. It will also include an area to put up announcements about school events.

“We are so very excited because one part is a pencil, then a book and the third part will be a ruler. And it has our school colors of blue and white and has our panther on it,” said Leonardi about the sign that will be installed after it’s designed and built. “We just don’t have that amount of money to spend on a sign, we use our money for school materials, personnel and other things in the school.”

The school plans on having a ceremony with NCH Healthcare representatives and other members of the school after the installation is complete.

But the sign isn’t the first new addition students are seeing at their school. Ground cover has been removed in the playground area and officials are waiting for a slide to be shipped before installation begins.

“They are missing the side-by-side slide and from what I understand the mold for the fiberglass slide was damaged and its being repaired. We should have our slide soon,” said Leonardi, who is working to have the rest of the play equipment installed with safety precautions around the area where the slide goes.

The slide should be delivered and installed by mid-November.

The installation of the new playground equipment might coincide with the completion of the second covered bus ramp at the front of the school.

The posts that hold up the structure have been cemented in but yellow caution tape still surrounds the benches and keeps kids out of the plants in the area.

“The canopy that will cover the posts is still being fabricated but once that’s put in it will be nice to have that out there because it will keep our boys and girls dry when they get on the bus,” said Leonardi, who added that the covered bus ramp at the back of the school has already protected kids. “It’s really designed well because the covered area is over the benches out there so the kids are kept away from the edge and the moving cars.”

Leonardi had a say in the design of the ramps and is glad that before the end of the year, all work might be completed.

“We are all anxious to see it completed. We’ve been waiting a little while for (the canopy) but this will be ever so much better than walking the kids out with umbrellas,” she said.

Bonita YMCA offering parent-toddler class

The Bonita Springs YMCA is offering a new program for parents who want to be more active with their toddlers.

“We have a lot of parents who like to come to the gym and workout but wanted a little something extra to do with their kids,” said Robin Siewers, the YMCA spokesperson.

The “Toddler Tumbling” program became the answer to member requests for classes they could attend with their toddlers, ages 3 to 5.

The Y will offer youth movements where kids will learn to stretch, jump, basic floor gymnastics and get an introduction to tumbling.

“Parents want to have a class that they can share with their children before or after they work out in the morning, luckily we were able to start this,” said Siewers, who added that only one session is offered at this time but more may be offered because of a high demand from members.

The class will be taught by gymnastics teacher Camille Arciere who is also a member of the YMCA and has two young children of her own.

“She showed interest in starting the program because she has eight years of experience in teaching gymnastics,” said Siewers, who said classes may be capped at 15 children and their parents.

“It's a great introduction for kids into some type of physical activity and that fits with what we are trying to promote in keeping a healthy lifestyle for kids,” she said.

The program is filling up fast and parents are asked to speak to the YMCA soon to guarantee their child a spot.

“This gives parents that special time to interact with their kids and from a social perspective it's good too,” Siewers said. “This is just something new to get the kids involved.”