Anna Maria Oyster Bar president John Horne announced a partnership with three retail operations on the Historic Bridge Street Pier. One will manage a concierge service. Others will operate a jewelry store and a small shop.
People will be able to book tickets for bird watching, charter fishing, parasailing, hiking, paddleboarding, personal watercraft, dolphin tours, Segway tours and other recreational activities at Sherman Baldwin’s shop.
They will book vendors that already are active on the island, not bring in new competition, according to Horne.
“It’s a one-stop shop where you can plan all of your activities for your vacation,” Horne said. “Sherm is basically a conduit” for recreational businesses. “We’re happy about that.”
Meanwhile, Tide & Moon Jewelry, owned by Laura Shely, will open on the pier and close the Anna Maria location next year when the lease ends. Ann Marie Nicholas, owner of A Room with a Hue, also on Pine Avenue in Anna Maria, is relocating to the same unit on the pier.
Horne said he has known Shely and Nicholas for years.
Though there won’t be a bait shop on the pier, bait will be sold out of a bait box that will be stocked by Annie’s Bait & Tackle, 4334 127th St. W., Cortez.
Shely and Nicholas said they are excited to move to the pier along with AMOB, Horne’s restaurant.
Horne said he’d like to have his restaurant, the concierge service and the cooperative open on schedule by the end of the year. The smaller units were previously used for restaurant storage.
“There’s a lot of progress going on,” he said.
