SPL NEWS
Margaritaville Comes To Town BY MICHELLE BOUDREAU
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Business acumen is no stranger to local resident and serial entrepreneur Ken Atchison, as he is set to open his eleventh store in the state of Florida with the upcoming Margaritaville store at 6390 Gulf Blvd, St Pete Beach near the “Postcard Inn On The Beach” due to open in early April. He holds the license for the Jimmy Buffet branded store in St. Petersburg. Having a great affinity for the brand and the tropical lifestyle makes it the perfect fit for his fourth store in St. Pete. He also has four stores in the Naples area, and three stores in the Sarasota area. He chooses his locations by places he would like to live and he has chosen to make St. Pete his residence.
When asked to share advice on successfully opening a store he replied, “You have to be prepared to put some money into it. You have to be in the store, and I have always worked in my stores.” He believes in being very hands-on when it comes to opening stores and prides himself on hiring great professionals to work alongside him. In his words, “The hardest part of the business is finding good management and sales staff.”
While frequenting his Milano Bags & Shoes store on Beach Drive, which quickly became one of my favorites, I got to know more about Ken Atchison. As he typically launches stores in two weeks, I was interested in his secret to success. Ken started out in college headed for a law degree, and life took a different direction when he started working at a shoe store to create income while in school. He was hard working, driven, and it paid off as he was recruited by a department store in a nearby shopping mall. He was offered a buying job with that department store, and during his employment it was his dream to open his own shoe store. He saved enough money to do so and in ten years he had opened his fourth store while keeping his full-time buying position.
In St Pete be sure to visit: Natural Comfort Footwear 208 Beach Drive, St Pete • 727-800-9213 Milano Bags & Shoes 212 Beach Drive, St Pete • 727-821-2200 Natural Comfort Footwear 341CoreyAve, St Pete Beach • 727-360-8100 Margaritaville 6390 Gulf Blvd, St Pete Beach Open in early April
StPeteLifeMag.com
March/April 2019
You are in for a treat when you shop any one of Ken Atchison’s stores as no two are alike.