OWNER ALSO TURNING FORMER LINDA’S CRAB SHACK INTO TWO ESTABLISHMENTS.
Historic Plant City Main Street (PCMS ) has awarded a sign grant to Propagation Whiskey Bar and Kitchen located on the corner of N Palmer and NE Drane Street.
“I applied through Plant City Main Street,” Propagation owner Brandon Snyder said. “There is a lack of good, quality signs around downtown, and they have been able to put together this program that helps out new business owners like myself. A lot of people don’t realize it, but the sign is the most important part of a new business that comes in. It lets people know that you are a restaurant here. We are really trying to use everything we can—all the programs Plant City Mainstreet offers us—to increase the visibility of the businesses downtown. It shows that they are backing us up—anything we do in downtown. We’ve got another project going on across the street. As a lot of people know, being a small business owner, we take as much help we can get because we are all in on this. So, for the community and these organizations to get behind us and say, ‘We believe in you’—it means a lot to me, and makes me want to continue to build stuff here in our downtown.”
Last summer, Historic Plant City Main Street initiated this program for downtown businesses to support them in their purchase of a new sign.
“The award was for $1,000—which is the maximum that we give,” Dawn Hyatt, PCMS Executive Director, said. “This sign cost six times that amount. But the reason we do this is for our small businesses like this that want to get out there. A lot of people can’t do as much as others. It is a lot of work, and like Brandon said, your sign is your staple. That is your biggest piece. He got the max because he did the work.”
Snyder is invested in making downtown better. At the former location of Linda’s Crab Shack, at 202 E. Reynolds Street, he is putting in a Mustard Seed Deli and Market. This restaurant currently has a location in Lutz. Snyder has partnered with Tampa Bay’s Chef Rocco Taliani to develop these places. The space will be split. Leaven Brewing, out of Riverview, will be also be building a brewery in the back. Seating will be a shared space for the front patio and the dining room. Mustard Seed will be on one side of the building and Leaven Brewing, with a tasting room, on the other side.
“I like the old bones of these buildings, because it adds to the character, and you can build the story around it,” Snyder commented. “Propagation was an old plumbing company, and an old drive through liquor store. It is fun—you can have stuff with that. You can build a concept around that. We are planning on doing the same thing with the old Linda’s property, because it was the original Greyhound bus station waiting room. It was also a drive-through liquor store. We like to go in and work with what we have as opposed to starting from scratch, because number one, you preserve the history, and because it is more fun that way.”
A sign grant award can be between $100 and $1000. The criteria to win the award are: 1. Be a Plant City Main Street Partner; 2. Have an approved city permit for signage; 3. Have a receipt or invoice; 4. Have a rendering or a picture of the sign. 5. Complete and submit an application on the website at www.plantcitymainstreet.org.
For more information about how to apply, go to the Plant City Main Street web site at https://www.plantcitymainstreet.org.
