Q&A: BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE ME THE COURTESY? CASUAL CONVERSATIONS
By: Carmen
Bracamonte. http://www.carmenbracamonte.net Unemployment
| The Shoppes of Wiregrass| Pasco County| Wesley Chapel| Pagelli’s Italiano
Restaurant| Blog | Services Reviews | Taxes.
At 14%
unemployment rate, Pasco County can still be a land of opportunity for
individuals and business owners.
Lower taxes (compared to other counties in Tampa Bay) and virgin areas
to build, with improved highways and commercial areas, Pasco shows
potential. A recent
visit to The Shoppes of Wiregrass made me realize about the
power of open space and sharing with the economic and ecological sustainability
in mind. Well, probably not. Sharing isn’t necessarily encouraged
as I found out from my casual conversation with Howard Cohen, general manager
at Pagelli’s
Italiano
restaurant, one of the most recent tenants joining the Wiregrass
Mall.
From live entertainment to delicious Italian menus and memorable family experience, Pagelli’s Italiano makes its mark in the enchanting new mall. Of course, Howard Cohen and his staff make its contribution with their friendly attitude. Frankly, I was impressed with Howard’s candid ability to join the conversation.
Q. What brought you to Wesley Chapel
in the face of a tough economy?
A. The Shoppes of Wiregrass is a new and clean mall, very organized, safe and open space that people like (management does a good job!) and despite the economy, people still eat and need to enjoy family time. At “Pagelli’s,” we have different menus for all pockets and tastes; including for those “conscious healthy” customers, who may be watching calories.
Q.
Although
far from the beach, The Shoppes of Wiregrass appeal beautifully to the eye with
its clean, almost sand-white walking ways, but there’s always something to
improve, what do you think?
A. Well, management is good! They have music-live on Thursdays and other events on the weekends for all ages. The only thing is that I wish there’s more cooperation among other business owners. For example, we’d like to pay management the fee for valet parking (let’s say on weekends) so our customers don’t have to pay for parking. But only two or three owners will be on-board but others not. The lack of cooperation makes it a not too good business practice; and I believe something should be done about it.
Q. Perhaps, management needs to be
more proactive to bring co-op solutions among tenants so everyone can have a
fair share.
A. That would be ideal. Perhaps we need to change the way we see things (it’s part of our culture to do things alone, eat and get fat . . .). We’ll see.
We could talk with Howard for hours (as I said, he’s very friendly and fan to be around) but Howard had to get on with his job. So I thanked him for his time and views.
On a more
practical note, we believe that “cooperation” is the new normal in business
today. We promised Howard that we
will bring some ideas to
management in The Shoppes of Wiregrass and that we’ll keep him posted on our progress.
Carmen Bracamonte is curious,
inquisitive about the world we live in — and leads The Market To Flip initiative where
she advocates about social media and marketing responsibility.
Discuss and debate more in our blog (simply click in the “blog” word or copy & paste the URL in your Internet browser: http://carmenbracamontepost.blogspot.com