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In these tough times for retailers, one Tampa entrepreneur is offering another way to market their products.
On May 15, David Phillips launches Caribebay Mall, an online store for local retailers, at www.caribebay.com.
The company has 50 retailers signed up and the list is growing. When a visitor clicks on a retailer's door image, the Web site walks him inside and displays slides showing the store's products.
Retailers pay a percentage of their sales in “rent” on the Web site. If they make no sales, they pay no rent.
“Last year, local retailers were having a tough time — now, even more so,” Phillips says. “The whole thing has been me handing out brochures. We've gotten some good response. You'll find a lot of unique merchandise, things that Wal-Mart or Kmart may not have.”
Those might include a jewelry store with select, Greek-made jewelry, or a hand-made wooden furniture store with Adirondack-style chairs and benches.
Phillips will be adding new features to the Web site, including a follow-me shopping, similar to the Twitter social networking site.
The majority of retailers are from the Tampa Bay area. A few are from the Caribbean. Phillips eventually wants to have them from all over world.
Phillips, an Arkansas native who employs an artist and programmers to work on the site, moved to Tampa in 2004 with his wife and children from the Virgin Islands.
He started a business there, an online version of the Yellow Pages called the Islands Superpages, which he still runs from Tampa. He also produces a children's non-profit television program, “Rummi and Friends,” which airs locally on Saturday mornings.
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