5 minute read
People to Watch: Ester Venouziou
BY CINDY COCKBURN
When she walks down Central Avenue in the heart of downtown, shop owners smile and wave and step out of their stores to greet Ester Venouziou as if they are getting ready to host the Mayor of St. Pete or the Chamber President.
Yes, she’s that popular.
Year after year, the woman with the low-key profile and big smile devotes her time, energy and talent to helping small businesses succeed. She may be shy in front of the camera but is known and loved by hundreds of local store owners all over Tampa Bay.
Ester Venouziou has come a long way since she arrived in St. Pete by way of New Jersey and Ft. Lauderdale with an idea that became a mission - support and preserve the uniqueness of the city’s small businesses.
That mission became LocalShops1. Fifteen years later, it is successful and growing. On August 24, she threw what she calls “The Party of the Year” at the Floridian Social and was surrounded by hundreds of grateful and happy business owners applauding her to celebrate the anniversary.
She credits her parents, entrepreneurs who had a successful, international fabric and linen business in Brazil, for her work ethic. When the family relocated to the United States, Venouziou became interested in journalism. She lived and worked in several places
in Florida, eventually landing at what was then the St. Petersburg Times.
While continuing to work at the newspaper, Venouziou started to post a list of local stores, restaurants and attractions. A one-stop place for locals and tourists to find one-of-a-kind places to visit, shop and eat. In 2011, Venouziou was laid off from her job at the newspaper, which provided the opportunity to focus more full-time energy on LocalShops.
LocalShops1 is recognized as Tampa Bay’s most active voice for small businesses. “We foster collaborations and organize events to connect businesses with businesses, as well as businesses with shoppers,” says Venouziou.
The organization’s signature event is Shopapalooza, which over 14 years has become a highly anticipated holiday festival in downtown St. Petersburg. This year, over 350 local businesses will be taking over Vinoy Park on November 25-26. The holiday extravaganza is expected to be one of the largest small business weekend events in the state. It’s co-sponsored by the City of St. Petersburg.
Ester Venouziou started the annual Shopapalooza festival in 2010 to give a boost to small businesses. It’s grown to some 350 vendors this year.
“Shopping local is more critical than ever this year as small businesses are facing economic challenges with staffing shortages and higher cost-of-goods due to inflation, while still recovering from the pandemic’s impacts,” Venouziou said. What’s the vibe like on the biggest shopping weekend of the year? “It’s not about the hard
The start of Shopapalooza
The first Shopapalooza was in 2010 at BayWalk (now SunDial St. Pete), with only 30 or 35 vendors, Venouziou says. The following year, it moved to The Pier, with some 70 vendors. With construction underway, the festival moved to South Straub Park where it remained for several years. In 2019, with city sponsorship, Vinoy Park became the festival home and with the extra space, vendors and participants surged.
This year’s Shopapalooza sold out vendor space early, and will feature nearly 350 small businesses including artists, community organizations and non-profits. Special sections and activities include shopping spree giveaways, holiday-themed decor, beer and wine station, food trucks, live music both pop-up and on stage, aerial performances, the Peace Flag Project, White Lounge Seating, a large children’s zone with interactive fun and much more. Santa will be making an appearance both days and on Sunday, there’s a Santa Rampage for kids.
“This will be our third year participating in the festival,” said small business owner Maria Aller. Her company Shapeshifter Fish and Friends (ssfishandfriends.com) offers a variety of colorful chemical-free sun protective wear for the whole family from toddler to adult. “Shopapalooza is a great chance for those of us who do not have a storefront to meet customers,” Aller says.
Another longtime Shopapalooza vendor, Gopali Imports owner Alex Gopali, has been in business for nine years on Central Avenue in the Crislip Arcade. His customers drop in to learn about sound healing services every Saturday and Sunday at 9 am. He has hundreds of handmade products from the Himalayas at his store on 645 Central Avenue.
Being a vendor at Shopapalooza has benefits, he says.
“We can meet so many more people during Shopapalooza and introduce them to our store,” he explains. “We have a variety of spiritual items, including bowls for sound therapy. It’s best for local shopping and holiday shoppers. We have many repeat customers.”
Venouziou sums up the festival by saying: “We want to make it fun and easy for people to do their holiday shopping with local small businesses. And we want people to discover new businesses and reconnect with longtime favorites, and help drive traffic back to them year-round.”
