By Justine Griffin, Tampa Bay Times, March 1, 2017
TAMPA — After spending more than 30 years working at SeaWorld Entertainment parks across the country, Busch Gardens’ newest park president, Stewart Clark, still wasn’t prepared for the backlash he and his family faced after the release of the documentary, Blackfish.
By Justine Griffin, Tampa Bay Times, Feb. 17, 2017
ST. PETERSBURG —The age of Amazon and online shopping has left a litany of retail casualties in its wake.
Bookstores in particular have been hit hard by online marketplaces where shoppers can virtually find any book they want and have it shipped to their home with just a few clicks of the mouse.
But that doesn’t deter Tim Russell and Bobby Hauske, who are about to open a used bookstore in Tyrone Square Mall next month.
“We have to live in Amazon’s world,” said Russell, a Florida native and businessman. “They’re putting their competitors out of business so they can open up their own bookstores now.”
Like online bookstore kingpin Amazon, Russell and Hauske are reversing the pattern of most businesses, starting with a thriving online-only business that leads to a brick-and-mortars operation.
The two plan to open 321 Books inside the former Gap store at the mall in St. Petersburg the first week of March. They will stock the shelves they bought from the recently closed Sears department store at Tyrone with 100,000 used books. Hardcover books will sell for $3. Soft covers are $2. Everything else, like CDs, DVDs and audio books, will be priced at $1 each.
Rent isn’t cheap and the price point of their product is low. It might sound like a risky business. But Russell and Hauske are confident given the success they’ve already had selling thousands of used books online.
Read more here.
Tampa Bay Times, Feb. 5, 2017, A1
By Justine Griffin
People tuning in to HSN might think they’re supporting a good cause by purchasing a lapis bracelet from Bajalia International Group, an Orlando company that employs female artisans in developing countries like Afghanistan and India.
What shoppers don’t see on their TV screens is the sometimes ruthless business arrangements between Bajalia and its artisans, the company’s history of short-changing its craftswomen or the checkered financial past of the company’s founder and CEO.
On air at HSN, Debbie Farah is portrayed as a savior for women in poor and developing nations who produce the natural gemstone necklaces and beaded bracelets that Farah’s company sells online and on HSN, the popular television retailer based in St. Petersburg.
A follow up story published on March 17, 2017, when HSN dropped Bajalia from its programming. The story was featured on WSTP Ch. 10’s Sunday Conversation.
Read the original investigation here.
The New York Times wrote about egg donation and included The Cost of Life in this Oct. 21, 2016, piece.
“Justine Griffin submitted an application to donate her eggs to a fertility clinic in Florida, detailing everything about herself from her appearance to her SAT scores. An infertile couple liked what they saw on paper and Ms. Griffin was notified that they wanted to buy her eggs.”
By Justine Griffin for the Tampa Bay Times. October 14, 2016
Orlando International Airport hasn’t ever had trouble recruiting new flights.
Airliners have been lining up for years to link new cities from around the globe to Disney World, Universal Studios and Central Florida’s other tourism attractions.
But last year, the Orlando airport introduced a financial incentive program meant to help lure new airline business.
The program mimicked what Tampa International Airport instituted more than five years ago, which has helped bring high-profile international flights like nonstop service to Frankfurt, Germany, on Lufthansa and service to Panama City, Panama, on Copa Airlines, to Tampa Bay.
The new incentive program in Orlando ultimately helped the airport draw a nonstop flight to Dubai on international airliner Emirates.
Tampa’s entry into the world of airline incentives didn’t come without controversy: Airport CEO Joe Lopano drew public criticism when he asked for permission to throw money at airlines after he arrived in Tampa in 2011. He eventually got the go-ahead, but it was new terrain for the airport.
Read more in the Tampa Bay Times here.