Sumter County Swap Meet

Someone once said you can’t buy happiness but you can buy cars and that’s kind of the same thing. Perhaps this is the reason the Sumter County Swap Meet, also known as the Florida Swap Meet, has turned into such a huge event.

The Swap Meet, Car Corral and Car Show is held on the first Sunday of every month, except for July & August (too hot), at the Sumter County Fairgrounds. The Fairgrounds are located north of the Webster Flea Market at 7620 S.R. 471 in Bushnell. The Meet consists of over 900 vendors offering a wide variety of auto parts, cars and antique car-related parts for sale.

Each month the first 200 in the gate receive a collectable hat, and door prizes are offered throughout the day. The monthly car show, part of the Swap Meet, is free to enter with $5 gate admission. Participants in the car show are also eligible for a $100 prize drawing.

In 2017, the Sumter Swap Meet will celebrate its 24th season with the yearly Winter Extravaganza Swap Meet, Car Corral and Car Auction on February 10, 11 and 12. Craig and Joann Pearson, the promoters of Swap Meet, would like to entice you to attend their monthly events and upcoming Extravaganza. “We have been doing Swap Meets in Sumter County for the past 23 years, this is a great place to discover those hard-to-find auto parts and accessories you’ve been looking for,” says Joann.

So whether you’re in the market for a new car, looking for special parts or want to take a stroll down memory lane, the Sumter County Swap Meet is a great start. Visit Florida Swamp Meet online for more information.

Domino’s Pizza #1 in the world!

This company has 12,600 restaurants in 80 countries around the world with 345 of them located in Florida and southern Georgia. This company is also in the top five in online ordering and 50% of all US sales are digital. The company even invented the 3D car top delivery signs now used in their industry. With the busiest delivery days at Halloween, New Year’s eve and New Year’s day, Super Bowl Sunday and Thanksgiving eve, chances are you’re a customer.

Besides the 3D car top delivery signs, Domino’s Pizza pioneered and patented the first insulated delivery bags and created the corrugated pizza box to prevent moisture from weakening the box and toppings from sticking to the box top. In 2007-2008, Domino’s rolled out online ordering, pizza building tools and service tracking.

Domino’s Pizza began operations in 1960. Their corporate office is in Ann Arbor, Michigan. One of their largest distribution centers is located in Lake County at the Christopher Ford Industrial Park and served by SECO Energy. Referred to as the Groveland operation, this Domino’s Pizza facility franchises 95% of Florida, parts of southern Georgia and even South America, the Caribbean and Portugal.

With 100 employees, half of whom are truck drivers, the Groveland distribution center provides for all the needs of the Domino’s Pizza restaurants. Fresh dough is mixed on location, and never frozen, for use in pizzas and breadsticks. Dough types are thick crust, gluten free and whole wheat which is used at schools and Boys and Girls clubs. Fresh vegetables, except for locally-grown mushrooms, and cheese are shipped from Georgia for the pizza toppings and signature salad packaging. The produce must reach the franchise within a minimum of six days of usable freshness so nothing gets stale. This, along with all the uniforms, hats, boxes, insulated delivery bags, flatware, plates, cleaning supplies and everything a franchise needs, with the exception of Coca-Cola products, are assembled for delivery in Groveland.

Deliveries can be tracked online real-time with software similar to the Domino’s Pizza App that allows customers to create, order, and track their pizza from start to finish. With employees committed to service, quality ingredients and efficient technology, Domino’s Pizza has gone from 1st in people and 1st in pizza to number one in the world. Their quality guarantee says if you’re not completely satisfied, they’ll make it right or refund your money – you can bet they will.

Tavares – “A Great Place to Land”

The City of Tavares, Florida, successfully went through the long process of branding itself into “America’s Seaplane City.” The leadership created a vision to reinvent the downtown area by creating a unique niche and wow factor to drive themed events aimed at attracting residents and visitors. The vision was created by city leaders although it helped tremendously to have a serious administrator to implement the plan. “Civic Entrepreneurship is fostering a good business climate,” says John Drury, Tavares City Administrator.

America’s Seaplane City now hosts 21 yearly events and has attracted 52,000 visitors to the downtown area. The themed events all support the brand and vision of the city leaders. A few of the annual activities are Planes, Trains and BBQ, Sunnyland Antique Boat Show, Classic Raceboat Association Regatta, Monster Splash Pumpkin Drop, Seaplane Apoolaza and Bootastic Halloween.

Besides the downtown events, Tavares is averaging 3,000 aircraft operations per year. The city maintains an active marina with AvGas (aviation fuel) at the waterline to support its seaplane and boat activities. The seaplane base supports amphibious operations and offers tie downs for aircraft both wet and dry. Base and port operations offer a whole host of services for daily arrivals provided by Jones Brothers & Co., Air and Sea Adventures.

Moving forward, the City of Tavares focused economic development team plans to keep the vision rolling with new start-ups or others re-locating businesses to the downtown area. Bob Tweedie, Economic Growth and Grants Director says, “Tavares’ approach to economic growth is to minimize barriers and obstacles to create an environment for businesses to thrive.” The branding effort is the bait and the entrepreneur environment is the hook. So far, the City’s branding efforts have attracted a hotel chain, restaurants, a sushi bar, a wine bar and a craft brewery to name a few. Older restaurants and other businesses have enjoyed a re-birth attracting many new visitors as well. This has been extremely appealing to millennials who support and enjoy the ‘buy local’ mantra. The City is now moving in the direction of reinvigorating the portion of the downtown area that has been vanishing due to growth along highway 441. So if you haven’t visited Tavares in a while, now may be a good time to do so.

Rebranding

Starting a process to rebrand requires a vision. It is more than a new logo, tagline and marketing campaign, it’s creating a new identity. Companies rebrand all the time, some successful and others not so much. Remember Coca-Cola in the 80s? They tried to rebrand and the backlash prompted what is now known as Classic Coke. Consumers wanted their old coke back.

If you’re contemplating a rebranding, give much thought to what you’re trying to accomplish before embarking on what could be a long and costly journey. Whether it’s a place, a product or company you wish to reinvent, the following six tips may be helpful.

1. Establish a team and engage in dialogue with those who frequently interact with consumers. Determine how people think about you and what it is you want people to think about your business moving forward. Make sure your expectations are realistic. This will help you begin establishing a brand.
2. Utilize various types of communication, surveys, social media, etc., to gain feedback from all people who use your product/service.
3. Determine what is “not” working. You cannot fix something you don’t know is broken.
4. Create a memorable story to sell your brand and make it something employees can believe in and support. This will encourage a sense of pride and cooperation.
5. Create a consistent message, even in down times, by continually promoting your brand on your website, social media and all communications, products and signage.
6. Commit to your brand!