The owners of COPA, a cocktail, wine, and tapas bar that opened in fall 2019 at 1047 Central Avenue in the EDGE District, are taking over the adjoining property at 1045 Central Avenue — formerly home to Italy Bottega, an Italian restaurant — and plan to open a daytime café in the space.

“We have some really exciting plans and cannot wait to debut it to everyone,” co-owner Sébastien Thurière said in an interview with St. Pete Rising. He owns and operates COPA along with his brother, Maxim Thurière.

“We want to not only grow our current concept in the evenings,” Sébastien added, “but we’ll be using that space to introduce a new concept in the morning that we're calling Café COPA.”

A new coffee roaster that focuses on specialty coffees is up and running at 1920 ½ 1st Avenue South, behind Spitfire Comedy House, in St. Petersburg’s Grand Central District.

Look Alive Coffee is owned and operated by Kelly Packard, who was born in Clearwater but then moved to Dallas, Texas with her family when she was still in elementary school.

“It’s really nice to be back here,” Packard said in an interview with St. Pete Rising. “I’ve always felt at home here. My parents are back here too, so it feels very ‘full circle’ being back at home.”

Look Alive Coffee is primarily a wholesale business, but anyone is welcome to order bags of coffee or sign up for a coffee subscription via the company’s website.

Three years after it was first announced, St. Petersburg’s first and only Whole Foods Market, and the company’s 537th store, is set to open at 9 a.m. on February 28th at 201 38th Avenue North, and the Austin, Texas-based specialty grocery store chain provided St. Pete Rising a sneak peek prior to the 41,100-square-foot store’s grand opening.

Local touches can be found in the store’s product assortment, which features more than 800 locally sourced products from the Southeast, curated with the help of Dustin Kennedy, Whole Foods Market’s local forager.

Some of the local and regional suppliers include Mother Kombucha, Greg Abrams Seafood, Wild Seafood Co., Keys Fisheries, Lady Moon Farms, Sunny Culture, Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Co., Adam’s Ranch, Green Bench Brewing Co., Escape Brewing Co., 3 Sons Brewing Co., Gelato Fino, Momma’s Baked Goods, Chef Cristy’s, Glasers Organic Farms, Norman Love Confections, Mozzarita, Wood’s Fisheries, and Hardee Fresh. 

The building that formerly housed Wave Pool & Grill, at 347 62nd Avenue North, finally has a new tenant: Club Pilates, a Pilates studio franchise based in Irvine, California.

Club Pilates has several existing locations in Pinellas County including one at 120 Central Avenue in downtown St. Petersburg, 6800 Gulfport Boulevard South in South Pasadena, 40956 U.S. Highway 19 North in Tarpon Springs, and 10125 Ulmerton Road, Suite 3, in Largo, as well as several more in Hillsborough County.  

The opening date of the north St. Pete location is not yet known but signs are up and exterior and interior renovation work is under way. 

One of the biggest names in clothing is opening a new location at Northeast Shopping Plaza, a Publix-anchored cluster of retail and service businesses at 226 37th Avenue North.

J. Crew will occupy a 4,982-square-foot space at the busy shopping center, according to documents filed with the City of St. Petersburg. The space was most recently a Play It Again Sports.

The New York-based clothing retailer, whose brands include J. Crew, Madewell, and J. Crew Factory, opened its first brick-and-mortar store in 1989 and now has more than 480 locations throughout the United States.