Brooksie's Market Selling Baby Consignment Items

The store is at 5805 N. Florida Avenue in Seminole Heights.

She's sold everything from ornaments to bird houses and fresh pasta. Now, Michelle Brooks is venturing into the baby consignment business at Brooksie's Market, adding one-piece baby blue pajamas with white snowflakes and onesies adorned with phrases like "Little Hunky Monkey" on the front to her inventory. "I'm buying clothes from parents whose kids have outgrown their clothes,'" said Brooks, owner of the store. "Hopefully, they'll rebuy from someone for their kid." Brooksie's opened last fall at 5805 N. Florida Avenue in a quaint house with hardwood floors. Since then, Brooks has considered moving to a larger space with a more pedestrian-friendly feel that would draw foot traffic from customers, and accommodate the inventory she hopes to …

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Small Business Saturday Helps Seminole Heights Shops

Seminole Heights store owners got a big boost in business last Saturday.

In a community where small business is an ever growing part of the landscape, a day dedicated to providing patronage to such establishments is a major event. Small Business Saturday on Saturday, Nov. 24 led to packed Seminole Heights shops and markets leading to a boost in revenues to kickoff the holiday season. A visit from local news channels combined with his own efforts to the promote the day paid off for Cleanse Apothecary owner Gregory Curtis. "Let's just say we had a very good day," Curtis said of his business at 5127 N. Florida Avenue. "We sent out about 800 postcards, and a lot of people saw us on the news, so we had a great turnout. We were packed throughout the whole day, and because of that, it was our best Small Business …

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Meet the Owner: Brooksie's Market

The market opened earlier this year.

Elementary Schoolers Look to Cheer Up Troops With Cards

Third graders from Seminole Heights elementary are expressing their gratitude to America's soldiers.

In the eyes of the average third-grader, America being at war probably seems pretty normal. Throughout the lives of the kids in Sarah Wright's third grade class at Seminole Heights Elementary, the country has been embroiled in conflict overseas. It's a fact that is not lost on the kids, who this week sent 250 donated cards with well wishes scrawled on the inside to soldiers stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. "They understand that mothers and fathers are over there fighting, too," Wright said. "With it being third grade they don't have a handle on the realities over the war but we talk about the war and how men and women serve our country. I have one student in the class whose father is in the military and she really enjoyed making cards …

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Meet the Owner: Brooksie's Market

Michelle Brooks opened her Seminole Heights market last Friday.

Michelle Brooks has a smile on her face and in her heart. The 50-year old Seminole Heights resident and former district manager for Starbucks is keeping herself busy these days with the creation of a neighborhood market that fits the Seminole Heights ideal and attracts locals both for shopping and socializing. "I'm glad to have the chance to create this store because it gives me a way to interact with people," Brooks said. "A neighbor and friend came by today, they brought me Mexican food and grabbed a beer and sat down to have lunch with me. That made my day." Brooksie's Market 5805 North Florida Avenue (813) 446-2187 Military Cards: With her son serving in the United States Marine Corps, Brooks began making cards for military parents to …

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New Seminole Heights Market Set to Open on Florida Avenue

Seminole Heights resident Michelle Brooks is ready to bring something new to her neighborhood.

There are few things Michelle Brooks has to leave Seminole Heights for and now she is bringing those things to the neighborhood she has called home for the past five years. Brooks, a former district manager of Starbucks, is relishing the opportunity to open Brooksie's Market, a version of her favorite markets complete with straw bags, scarves, jewelry, fresh herbs and spices, bath salts and potpourris. "It's going to be a combination of things that I really like in my life," Brooks said. "Very seldom do I leave the neighborhood, but when I do it's for very specific things and now I want to bring them here. It's going to be great because my business will be right across the street from my home." The location at 5805 North Florida Avenue is …

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