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Epiphany A Mixed Business Blessing

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By KLINT LOWRY | The Suncoast News

Published: January 12, 2008

TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. - TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. - Sunday morning Anthony Zaronias, Sevasti Constas and Kathy Papavasiliou were rushing behind the counter at Fournos Bakery, keeping up with yet another wave of customers.

Sunday mornings are generally a good time for bakeries, but this was no typical Sunday morning. This was Jan. 6, Epiphany Day, and Fournos Bakery is directly across the street from St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral, home of the largest Epiphany Celebration in North America.

The bakery was hopping with both local residents and visitors from as far away as New Hampshire.

"It's probably about 100 percent better," Zaronias said of the pace of business on Epiphany versus other Sundays.

Nevertheless, "We don't think of it as a money-making day," Zaronias added.

Without question, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral's annual Epiphany Celebration is one of the biggest events in the city. It draws thousands of visitors not only from this area, but from around the country, even from overseas.

One might think each Jan. 6 would be a red-letter day for Tarpon Springs businesses. But only some businesses cash in on the crowds, and location isn't the key.

Simply put, the local food and beverage industry feasts on Epiphany.

"A lot of people come from all over," said Jill Vandenboogaart, manager at Rodie's Restaurant and Pancake House.

Rodie's is several blocks south of all the major Epiphany activities. Still, Vandenboogaart said, the day always goes the same way – a huge breakfast rush early in the morning, then things ebb for a while, then another big rush that starts right after the tossing of the cross at Spring Bayou.

For other types of businesses, even those much closer to the action, Epiphany can actually mean a drop in business.

Pat Schneider works at Menzer's, part of the antique district along Tarpon Avenue. The Epiphany Day procession goes right past the antique shops, and the crowd passes right along with it, she said.

"We really don't benefit," Schneider said. "When people are close to here, the focus is on the event, the procession. After, if they don't stay for the Glendi they tend to gravitate toward the sponge docks."

The Glendi is the large outdoor Epiphany Day party at Craig Park.

What's more, Schneider said, every available parking spot near downtown gets taken early. Add to that the street closures that come with the event, and antique shoppers will just as soon wait for another weekend.

Schneider said she hopes Epiphany visitors may notice the antique district and make a mental note to return another time.

"There are people who come here from five miles away who don't know this is here," she said of the Tarpon Avenue antique shop district.

The tourist magnet that is the Sponge Docks, the Hellenic culture district along Dodecanese Boulevard, suffers from no such anonymity. But even there, the same pattern seems to hold true.

Three days before Epiphany, Sofia Zaronias, Anthony Zaronias' wife, was getting ready for business at the family's newest business venture, Axia Gifts and Gourmet. This is their first Epiphany as a retailer.

Along with the bakery, the extended Zaronias family also own Mykonos Restaurant, also on Dodecanese Boulevard.

Epiphany has always brought in business, she said. And with the holiday falling on a Sunday, she expected it would be exceptionally big, as many of the out-of-towners with local ties would likely make a long weekend of it.

"They're already starting to trickle in," Zaronias said.

Others retailers along the sponge docks were less optimistic.

"It's the deadest day of the year," Martie Hufnagel said.

Hufnagel has worked for 13 years at Key West Connections. Sure there's a big crowd in the area, she said, but it is not the same as a weekend full of tourists and snowbirds predisposed to dispose of some income.

They do, however, like to window shop, according to Melody Bowser, owner of Sun & Fun Beachwear for 22 years.

"We get a lot of traffic, let's put it that way," Bowser said.

She agreed, to some extent, that the big Epiphany crowd doesn't mean a windfall for retailers every Jan. 6. But that's not to say it isn't good for business in the long run. When people come to Epiphany, they are focused on the day, she said, as it should be. But, just as Schneider speculated, they see the stores and come back to shop other times.

Whether their respective businesses cash in or not from the Epiphany Celebration, there was one common line of thought that was summed up best by Ioanna Pavalis of Kikilis Florist.

The nearly 82-year-old floral shop on Pinellas Avenue doesn't even open on Sundays, the day of the week for Epiphany 2008. So from a business standpoint, the family-run enterprise really had no stake whatsoever in this year's Epiphany, Pavalis said.

And given the recent death of Pavalis' father, a lapse in community spirit among those at the florist shop would have been understandable.

Nevertheless, the sign at the front of Kikilis Florist proclaimed good wishes and a blessed Epiphany to all who were passing along Pinellas Avenue, as Alt. 19 is known in the city

"It's a big deal every year," Pavalis said, echoing sentiments heard from merchants around town. "You have to celebrate it; it's a great day for us."

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