This is the sort of place you could never plan. It’s a mash-up of the general store/thrift store/vintage shop/post office/town hitching post — in short, the quintessential Gulfport place. I mail postcards, browse long flowy yoga-esque plants and buy beach ephemera here. They sell tickets to all the local events, carry local authors and always have something you need. You won’t find much anything new, but things I’ve bought include Tiki salt and pepper shakers, a wooden oar that classes up my back porch and a gorgeous blue decanter. Now, if only they had a soda fountain... Gulfport Beach Bazaar, 3115 Beach Blvd. S., Gulfport. 727-381-8548. Gulfportbeachbazaar.com —CS
Goods & Services: Local business is good business.
Local business is good business.
Who would’ve known that we’d spend our mid-30s (and beyond) collecting buttons and pins for our lapels and guitar straps? Thanks to the comic book-inspired selection at Tampa’s Bronze Age Buttons and veteran local comics artist/musician Josh Sullivan’s wide variety of enamel pins both cute and snide, getting older (and throwing around our disposable income) never felt — or looked — so cool. —Ray Roa/Scott Harrell
facebook.com/pg/bronzeagebuttons
- Runner Up: Seminole Heights Community Acupuncture
- Runner Up: A Touch of Wellness
- Runner Up: Knot on Main Street
- Runner Up: Dysfunctional Grace
- Runner Up: Beacon 430 (St. Petersburg)
- Runner Up: West Park Village (Westchase)
- Runner Up: Dimmitt Automotive Group
- Runner Up: Brandon Ford
- Runner Up: Murray Motive (Oldsmar)
- Runner Up: Tires Plus (Multiple Locations)
Suncoast Credit Union Website. Convenient local branches, access to thousands of ATMs, exclusive member seminars and sponsored events throughout the community. www.suncoastcreditunion.com
- Runner Up: Bank of America
- Runner Up: Chase
- Runner Up: Sapia's Barber Shop
- Runner Up: Billy's Corner Barber Shop
