Retail therapy will return this fall to Coquina Beach.
Manatee County commissioners July 25 voted to approve a franchise agreement with Ready Set Go Tour & Travel for the company to coordinate a new Coquina Beach market at the public beach in Bradenton Beach.
The agreement was included in the commission’s consent agenda for the meeting.
Bradenton-based Ready Set Go, operated by Dottie Deerwester, was selected over two other companies by an evaluation committee.
The other bidders were Florida Marketplace Group, which coordinates markets in Coconut Grove, Miami Shores, Miami Lakes, Hialeah, Ocala and Orlando, and Your Tampa Markets, which administers the Tampa Riverwalk Festival market.
The agreement with Deerwester provides for market coordinating services in two two-year terms:
- One term began Aug. 1 and ends on July 31, 2025.
- The second term runs Aug. 1, 2025-July 31, 2027.
On the revenue side, for the first six months — Oct. 1-March 31, 2024, the county will receive $300 per market day.
After six months of operation, the county will receive $500 per market day.
The county also has the right to renegotiate compensation prior to the renewal of the second term.
Deerwester was traveling and unavailable for comment as of Islander press time July 31.
She will oversee the new market at the south end of the beach, where county crews laid a foundation in January.
The location will accommodate 80 vendors and turtle-friendly lighting will allow for night events.
A prior market operated along the multiuse trail at the beach and was run by Nancy Ambrose Services via an agreement with the county for more than nine years.
The county did not renew Ambrose’s contract last August, when then-administrator Scott Hopes decided to bring the market under county control — a decision that caused an uproar among Ambrose’s vendors.
Soon after severing ties with Ambrose, the county issued a statement saying the market would go on hiatus to be rebuilt under the guidance of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
At the time, the county said it would open a new market in November 2022.
The project was delayed by several factors, including Hurricane Ian in September 2022 and then a shake-up in the county administrator’s office.
The market is now set to launch in the fall.
Market days, according to the franchise agreement, include:
- Sundays, about 4-6 hours before sunset, concluding just before sunset.
- Wednesdays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
- Fridays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.