Audrey Mill and Kaitlin Hancock
Best Vintage Store
Fifi’s Fine Resale Apparel
With a name like Fifi Queen, it seems the founder of Fifi’s Fine Resale Apparel was destined for the finer things in life. The Asheville, N.C., native settled in Jacksonville in the early 1980s, bringing with her a love of beautiful but affordable clothing that became her business philosophy in opening the first Fifi’s store on Amelia Island, according to the company’s website. Fifi’s boutiques put vintage designer fi nds within everyday shoppers’ reach by offering gently used, highly sought brands at bargain consignment prices. You can find Fifi’s self-described “Florida’s largest and finest consignment shop” in 22 Florida and North Carolina locations, including six in Amelia Island, Jacksonville, Ponte Vedra Beach and St. Augustine. – MT the community by sponsoring charity rides and sharing his passion for cycling. – MT
Best Clothing Store
Rosenblum’s
Frank Rosenblum opened one of the first men’s clothing stores in Jacksonville in 1898, beginning with “only a pushcart full of wares and a heart filled with determination,” according to Rosenblum’s website. More than a century later, Rosenblum’s is still a local favorite spot for men’s – and, since the 1960s, women’s – upscale fashions. The stores carry well-known brands and offer the type of personalized customer service one might expect from a third-generation family business. Two locations, in Lakewood and Jacksonville Beach, are operated by Bob and Richard Rosenblum, grandsons of the business-savvy patriarch. – MT
Best Doctor
Loren Clayman Best Plastic Surgeon
Loren Clayman, Dr. Clayman’s Plastic Surgery Center Best Day Spa
Dr. Clayman’s Miracle Spa
complicated facial reconstructions on returning soldiers who’d been prisoners during the Vietnam war. For each of the 15 years that the board-certified doctor has held the title of BOJ Best Plastic Surgeon, Surgical Technician Nancy Gladden has been his first mate, assisting with everything from suture removals to extensive surgeries. Gladden, this year’s Best Nurse, became a surgical technician in 1967 at the recommendation of an unemployment offi ce staff person. “I wasn’t qualified to be a secretary,” she said, “so somebody told me I should be an operating room tech.” Gladden said she is dumbfounded but quite honored by the BOJ distinction. In addition to plastic surgeries, Dr. Clayman’s Miracle Spa, located in Riverside, offers a variety of skin care treatments designed to rejuvenate and reduce stress. – MT
Best Hairstylist
Best Florist
YMCA
Kuhn Flowers
Long before the days of online-ordered apologies and I love yous, the Kuhn Flowers truck was delivering fresh flower arrangements and live plants for every occasion to happy Northeast Florida recipients. Kuhn Flowers, serving Jacksonville with consistent quality flowers and gifts since 1947, now has additional locations for folks in Ponte Vedra and St. Augustine. Many locals love the main Kuhn Flowers shop on Beach Boulevard in St. Nicholas for its elaborate themed window displays, which change for every holiday and season. Make it a stop this Halloween and Christmas. – MT
Best Nurse
Best Hair Salon
Some people achieve academic success, while others excel in athletics … and then there are those who dedicate their lives to helping others. Rarely do these three life pursuits come together as they have for Loren Clayman, who is not only the Best Plastic Surgeon for the 15th year in a row, but this year’s Best Doctor and owner of the Best Day Spa. Clayman was an All-American track and field star in his days at Harvard University before going to medical school. He later put his healing hands to work, performing
Owner-stylists Jim Stracke and Lea Laskowitz dreamed of creating a salon with an atmosphere that was “design-driven, appealing to clients and stylists and just flat-out cool.” Now, their clients love Hawthorn Salon’s relaxed Five Points environment and its nine well-trained stylists’ expertise on the latest hair products and methods. Chat it up with your stylist over some hair therapy, or take advantage of Hawthorn’s free Wi-Fi if you’re feeling a little shy. Either way, you’ll love your hair. – MT
Nancy Gladden
Hawthorn Salon
Jon-Michael Hall, Aura Salon Spa
As Flannery O’Connor once wrote, “A Good Man is Hard to Find.” A good hairstylist is arguably harder to find – especially one with color expertise and an artistic eye for consistently making you look and feel your best. The search is over for clients of JonMichael Hall, senior designer at Aveda Aura Salon in the Tinseltown area. Hall trained at the Aveda Institute in Charlotte, N.C., and has styled hair for New York Fashion Week for several years, and our readers consider him the best around. – MT
Best Health Club/Gym From fitness classes to swimming classes to youth sports and after-school care for kids, there’s one tried-and-true facility that Northeast Florida residents trust to meet their lifestyle needs: the YMCA. First Coast YMCA’s self-professed goals of youth development, healthy living and social responsibility are carried out through these and other programs offered in 13 locations from Macclenny to St. Augustine. If you won’t listen to us, take it from the Village People: “You’ll find it at the YMCA.” – MT
Best Health Food Store
Grassroots Natural Market
For those who care about what goes into their pieholes, one local market rises above the rest, according to FW readers. They note the quality organic, local and non-GMO product selection at Riverside’s Grassroots Natural Market, founded in 2006 “by two brothers, born and raised in Jacksonville and passionate about health, well-being and culinary adventures,” according to the company’s website. Grassroots offers freshly squeezed juices, fresh, seasonal deli selections and aisle after aisle of the good stuff a healthy bod craves. The company is endorsed by Slow Food First Coast and affiliated with the Natural Products Association and Non-GMO Project. – MT
OCTOBER 9-15, 2013 | FOLIOWEEKLY.com | 27