"Florida Avenue is a public road, one of Tampa's longest stretching business roads, and the road we operate business on, said Spadaccini. "Adding the name "Florida Avenue" to the name of a business is not in any way unique and should not prohibit business owners like myself from operating under that naming convention."
After massive backlash on social media regarding the incident, Anthony Derby, founder and owner of Brew Bus, released a public statement.
“Back in February, Greg Spadaccini (owner of Spaddy’s Coffee) contacted me personally through my Facebook account inquiring about using Florida Avenue Eats as the name and branding for a new food concept he was starting with his business partner. I told him I needed to think about the issue of brand confusion and a few days later I sent him an email voicing why I thought there would be significant confusion between Florida Avenue Brewing Co. (which has an eatery on-premise) and requested they explore other options for naming or branding. He chose to ignore my valid concerns of the overwhelming similarities and potential to create confusion, and ultimately refused to engage in any form of dialog, both online and in person."
Derby goes on to explain that once Florida Avenue Eats began promoting, Brew Bus's distributors and customers were questioning a partnership or affiliation. The Brew Bus owner then claims that he reached out to Spadaccini to “find an amicable solution that did not involve the legal system."
Well, now this is just awkward.
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This article appears in Apr 18-25, 2019.