Gulfport’s Salty Pup Coffeehouse is getting a larger home and a vintage marketplace next door
/A rendering of the new Salty Pup Coffeehouse and Electric Flamingo vintage marketplace | Salty Pup
When Jeff and Jody Musselman opened Salty Pup Coffeehouse and Wine Bar in Gulfport, the business was meant to be a new chapter.
The couple had moved back to the area after years in Atlanta, where they sold their home and said goodbye to Hampton, their 14-year-old labradoodle. They named the café after him.
Hampton was their “salty dog,” Jody told St. Pete Rising at the time, because he had a little attitude.
Nearly two years later, the Gulfport community that embraced their small coffee shop is helping make room for an even bigger idea.
The Musselmans plan to relocate The Salty Pup from 5004 Tangerine Avenue South to 4700 22nd Avenue South, a 5,348 square-foot warehouse that will also house Electric Flamingo, a new vintage marketplace with vendor booths, art displays, and space for up to 29 local sellers.
The couple is targeting a December opening, pending construction and permitting.
Owners of Salty Pup Coffeehouse and Wine Bar, Jeff and Jody Musselman | Photo provided
For Jody, Electric Flamingo connects to work he loved before Salty Pup. While living in Atlanta, he owned a business that bought, refurbished, and sold mid-century furniture. He also spent several years directing a large art festival in central Virginia.
Over the past year, the Musselmans began talking more seriously about combining those interests with the community they had built through the coffee shop.
“We’ve had this concept kind of in our mind and dreaming and planning about it,” Jody said in a conversation with St. Pete Rising. “It was finding the right space for it.”
They looked at locations in south St. Pete, downtown, and Tyrone. But the couple wanted to remain close to Gulfport, where customers have turned Salty Pup into more than a place for coffee and baked goods.
The café serves espresso-based beverages, teas, and smoothies. Its breakfast menu includes croissant and bagel sandwiches, omelets, waffles, and French toast.
For lunch, customers can choose from chicken salad and chickpea salad sandwiches, veggie wraps, soup, and grilled cheese with herbed caramelized onions and three cheeses.
The interior of Salty Pup Coffeehouse in Gulfport | Salty Pup
The café also hosts book clubs, crossword groups, and open-mic nights that bring together poets, writers, and performers from Gulfport, St. Pete, Tierra Verde, and South Pasadena. Those events have often outgrown the current shop.
“By 5:30, we have people who come in and there’s nowhere to sit, so they have to end up leaving,” Jody said of the open-mic nights.
The new Salty Pup will offer more seating and longer hours, creating room for those gatherings and a new weekend brunch menu.
The café will also expand its beer and wine offerings, allowing customers to order a mimosa on Sunday or stay a little longer after lunch.
Next door, Electric Flamingo will have vendor booths ranging from roughly 8-by-8 to 10-by-10 feet. Vendors with larger furniture or displays will be able to combine spaces, while local artists, jewelry makers, and collage artists can lease gallery wall space.
The Musselmans expect the marketplace to carry a curated mix of vintage merchandise from the 1950s through the early 2000s, including furniture, clothing, vinyl, collectibles, and other finds.
Salty Pup’s chicken salad sandwich | Salty Pup
They will review vendor applications with an eye toward keeping the selection varied.
“We don’t want six vinyl record dealers,” Jody said.
Additionally, Electric Flamingo will be entirely vendor-operated. The Musselmans will provide the building, utilities, and point-of-sale system, while vendors focus on sourcing merchandise or making their work.
“We want to give people an opportunity in a very tough current economic state to have a brick-and-mortar building without the traditional brick-and-mortar cost,” Jody said.
The two businesses will have separate exterior entrances but connect inside, allowing customers to move easily between the café and marketplace.
Salty Pup will keep its familiar coastal, Polynesian-inspired look, while Electric Flamingo will lean into a colorful ’80s Miami Vice aesthetic.
Salty Pup will relocate to 4700 22nd Avenue South, a 5,348 square-foot warehouse that will also house Electric Flamingo, a new vintage marketplace | Google Maps
The former warehouse requires a full buildout, including a kitchen, lighting, landscaping, and murals. The Musselmans are speaking with muralists about painting the front and side of the building, and they hope to create a community mural that residents can help paint.
The couple also plans to grow the art markets it has hosted at Salty Pup, using the larger space for future events.
For the Musselmans, the project is not just about opening another business. It is a chance to build a place where people can gather, shop, share their art, and return often enough to find something new.
“We can only do this because of the love we get from the community,” Jody said.
Be sure to follow Salty Pup and Electric Flamingo on Instagram to stay up to date on the latest happenings.
Artists and vintage vendors interested in Electric Flamingo can apply through electricflamingo.market.
