Stories from surrounding communities, closest first.
Big Bear Grizzly · Sarasota, FL
Nearby: Sarasota, FLSarasota, FL / Storyteller / Nov 11, 2026 /Badger Bob's Services, a local air conditioning repair company serving Sarasota and surrounding communities, is proud to announce its sponsorship of Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Sarasota 2026. Badger Bob’s Services offers AC repair near you in Sarasota, FL, and has been in business since 1984.The event, organized by the American Cancer Society, brings people together to raise awareness, support individuals and families affected by breast cancer, and contribute to the fight against the disease.For Badger Bob's Services, the sponsorship is about more than putting the company's name behind a community event. It's an opportunity to support a cause that has touched the lives of countless families, including people living and working throughout the Sarasota area.Breast cancer affects more than the person receiving the diagnosis.
Business Observer · Sarasota, FL
Nearby: Sarasota, FLA new grocery store is opening Thursday in Sarasota. Trader Joe’s will begin welcoming customers for a grand opening celebration at 9 a.m. to its location at 8199 S. Tamiami Trail, Suite 100, near Beneva Road, offering samples and a Florida bag giveaway. Previously, the 8,500-square-foot space was occupied by Staples, and it has been under construction for months in a shopping center that also includes Hobby Lobby and Dollar Tree. More than 20 employees will staff the store, including new hires and those transferred from nearby Trader Joe's, according to a statement. The new Sarasota store will be about 5 miles south of the other Sarasota Trader Joe’s, which is located at 4101 S. Tamiami Trail. That store opened in Sarasota in 2012 and at the time was the second Trader Joe’s location in the state after the brand made its Florida debut in Naples, according to sister publication YourObserver.com.
Business Observer · Sarasota, FL
Nearby: Sarasota, FLGlobal furniture company Ikea has set an opening date for its Sarasota store. The location in the University Town Center shopping district will begin welcoming customers on Nov. 18, according to the Ikea Sarasota website. The storefront a147 N. Cattlemen Road has been under construction for months, between DWS and Golf Galaxy near Target and REI, since the retailer first announced in April it was coming to Sarasota. The Sarasota Ikea will occupy about 48,000 square feet. That is smaller than the brand’s traditional big-box store, which spans about 300,000 square feet. Ikea previously told the Business Observer that it plans to have about 46 employees staffing its Sarasota store. About 5,000 items will be on display in Sarasota, of which 3,000 will be available for immediate takeaway, including home furnishings like textiles, lighting, accent pieces and more than 100 smaller furniture items.
Business Observer · Lakewood Ranch, FL
Nearby: Lakewood Ranch, FLCharley’s Steak House, a popular Florida eatery with three locations, is planning a new restaurant in Lakewood Ranch on a site it purchased about four years ago. The chain’s parent company, Talk of the Town, formerly submitted a site plan application to Manatee County Friday. According to a project narrative included in records from a pre-application meeting in late September, plans call for the construction of a 14,000-square-foot restaurant along with ancillary parking, utility and drainage infrastructure. The project also includes a possible 4,000-square-foot bank with associated parking to be built on the site. (Copies of the site plan were not immediately available on the county’s planning website Monday.) A conceptual plan drawn up by Kimley-Horn, the engineering and design firm working on the project for Talk of the Town, shows the eatery will be built just southwest of Exchange Place Way and back up to an existing pond.
Black Star News · St. Petersburg, FL
Nearby: St. Petersburg, FLThe International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement (InPDUM) has popularized the demand for Black Reparations through community campaigns since its founding in 1991. On November 14-15, 2026, InPDUM will hold its annual Convention at the Uhuru House in St. Louis, Missouri. This year’s Convention marks the 30th anniversary of “The Battle of St. Pete” where the Black community repelled a 300-strong military assault on an organizing meeting at the Uhuru House in St. Petersburg, Florida. Presenters at the Convention include: African People’s Socialist Party Chairman Omali Yeshitela, who began his political life in the 1960s as a field organizer with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee registering Black voters in the south and went on to build the African liberation struggle worldwide.
Business Observer · Pinellas County, FL
Nearby: Pinellas County, FLA Pinellas County investor has bought a small apartment complex in Oldsmar. The community is the Arch Avenue Apartments on Clair and Arch avenues just off of State Road 580 and less than 4 miles from both Mobbly Bayou Beach Park and Countryside Mall. The buyer, according to the Tampa commercial real estate firm Franklin Street, is St. Clair Property Investment. The firm did not disclose the sale price, but county property records show that St. Clair, owned by an Oldsmar investor, paid $1.95 million. The seller, Woshi Real Estate, paid $1.1 million for the property in 2019. Franklin Street says the 10-unit community is made up single-story, two-bedroom units averaging about 1,005 square feet. Each unit has a private rear patio and an in-unit washer and dryer. Four of the five duplexes offer garages. At the time of sale, it was 90% occupied. Built in 1979 and 1980, the previous owners replaced the roofs and installed white vinyl fencing to create private backyard spaces in 2024.
Business Observer · Pinellas County, FL
Nearby: Pinellas County, FLThree new C-suite executives are coming to Pinellas County — but these personality hires won’t be spending their days at the office. Working remotely is part of the deal for Visit St. Pete-Clearwater’s viral new SPC-Suite executive team. The county’s official tourism and marketing organization announced earlier this month that its national, month-long search for a Chief Vibes Officer, Chief Sunset Curator and Chief Flavor Explorer has come to an end. Three content creators and social media influencers were chosen out of more than 17,000 applications for the tongue-in-cheek jobs: 10-day all-inclusive gigs documenting the cities’ arts, food, music, nightlife and “beach culture” on social media. Each content creator will also get paid $10,000. The agency’s recruiting push began Oct.
The Daily Memphian · Tampa, FL
Nearby: Tampa, FLNCAA college football summary for the game between Memphis and South Florida played Thursday in Tampa, Florida.
Business Observer · Tampa, FL
Nearby: Tampa, FLMarky Mark is set to bring some good vibrations to one of downtown Tampa’s latest luxury residential towers, developers announced Thursday — this time in the form of a high-intensity gym outfitted with everything from IV therapy and golf simulators to eucalyptus-infused towels. Actor, producer, businessman and former frontman Mark Wahlberg will open a new branch of Municipal Gym, the premium fitness club he co-founded with EōS Fitness, inside developer LD&D’s mixed-use tower DoMo at Cass Square. At 1110 E. Cass St., in the Encore and Tempo district of downtown Tampa, it will be the first Municipal Gym in Florida and the second to open anywhere in the country outside of its flagship Las Vegas location. The deal gives Miami-based developer LD&D an anchor tenant for its planned $200 million mixed-use tower.
Business Observer · Tampa, FL
Nearby: Tampa, FLCreation Equity, an Arizona real estate development and investment firm, has begun work on the construction of a three-building industrial center in east Tampa. The 330,000-square-foot project is in its early stages and the firm plans a ceremonial groundbreaking in coming weeks. 301 Exchange, as it will be known, will be built on a 51-acre site, 39 acres of which are designated as wetlands, at the intersection of U.S. 301 and East Sligh Avenue. It will have direct access to both Interstate 4 and Interstate 75. Plans call for the construction of three rear-load buildings ranging from 100,101 to 129,317 square feet, each with 32-foot clear heights and two points of ingress and egress. Creation is partnering with the Los Angeles real estate investment firm PCCP on the project. Luke Georgiadis, principal of Creation’s East Coast division, says in an email sent through a spokesperson that the cost of the project is $65 million.
