TAMPA — Bloomin’ Brands, the company that owns Outback Steakhouse, says despite the pandemic it has stores turning profits — mainly, ones in the South. During its second-quarter phone call with investors Friday, the company said Texas and Florida were posting the most positive sales trends. Company leaders said of the 129 top-performing locations, more than half were in the South. Generally, those locations were in states reopened dining rooms sooner than the rest of the country. But those...

The Party City nearest to my apartment shares a plaza with the shell of a Toys R Us and a Pier 1 with “GOING OUT OF BUSINESS” signs. Still, I think the Party City is sadder than both its ill-fated neighbors. It is the saddest store during the pandemic — and not just because it had to furlough 90 percent of its store workers. Aisles packed with kitsch decor and novelties won’t fulfill their purposes — or at least shouldn’t — for a long time. The streamers. The Piñatas. The velvet cowboy hat...

ST. PETERSBURG — The former Lucky’s Market at Tyrone Square attracted more than one bidder. When Lucky’s announced it was suddenly closing its stores and filing for bankruptcy, Florida grocers scrambled to put their names in the ring to take over the specialty food market’s most successful locations. Hitchcock’s Market, a lesser known independent chain, put bids in against big-league grocers like Aldi and Florida leaders such as Publix and Winn-Dixie. The Alvarez family, which runs...

TAMPA — Sprouts Farmers Market is opening its latest Tampa Bay location in New Tampa Wednesday as it plans out two other Hillsborough County locations. Sprouts latest store at 8620 Hunter Village Road will hold a grand opening at 7 a.m. Wednesday. Soon the health food store will open a location in Westchase and is planning a location in Tampa Heights expected to open in 2021. The New Tampa location is nearly 30,000 square feet, about the size of the upcoming Westchase location at 10619...

ST. PETERSBURG — Brooke Taliaferro used to make regular visits to the Stein Mart on 37th Avenue N. Then came coronavirus. Taliaferro, 76, lives just outside Parrish but would take a weekly trip to St. Pete to meet up with her sailing group. Then, almost religiously, she’d stop at the nearby Stein Mart. “And I’d always find something great,” she said. “I love it here.” But with COVID-19, those sailing meet-ups aren’t happening and Taliaferro is taking fewer shopping trips altogether. On...