Serving downtown Tampa's sweet tooth, Peppermint Reindeer Konfection Kafe celebrated its grand opening on July 13.
With chocolate practically flowing in owner Tammy Childers' blood (her grandparents owned a candy shop and were chocolate makers when they were younger) and living in the downtown area since 2008, Childers came upon an opportunity to open a chocolate shop.
"When I moved down here, at the time, there wasn't really anything downtown serving residents as far as chocolate goes," says Childers. "The opportunity to open the shop came up, but the business part of me didn't think it would be a wise decision to rent a space that was completely dedicated to selling chocolate so I decided to open up a salon, as well."
Childers' space, at 201 E. Twiggs St., is split into two businesses -- Peppermint Reindeer and 201 Twiggs Studio Salon. The entire space is approximately 1,000 square feet, with the front part of the shop (a 200-square-foot kiosk) dedicated to Peppermint Reindeer.
"Downtown is actually the only place that I would've opened up in all of Tampa," says Childers. "I'm a city dweller at heart and really like the idea of pedestrian traffic."
Childers officially opened the space on December 15 with funds coming from private investors, family and out of her own pocket. Once the space for the chocolate shop and nail salon/day spa was purchased, Childers renovated from the ground up. Everything was completely remodeled and redone.
"I have people commenting on a daily basis how happy they are that we're here -- both tourists and residents," says Childers. "Most of us see manicures and pedicures as a small part-time job just to get done, but with my location, business women in the area can just slip in on their lunch breaks and get their nails done without having to worry about it after hours or over the weekend. We're really convenient."
Writer: Alexis Quinn Chamberlain
Source: Tammy Childers, Peppermint Reindeer
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