Local companies help restoration

Two of the Sarasota-Bradenton region's most well-known retail companies — Bealls and Tervis Tumbler — have begun to sell special products to raise money for post-oil spill restoration efforts in the Gulf of Mexico.

The companies have partnered with the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation to sell custom-made T-shirts and a line of tumblers. The foundation is studying the best ways to restore the ecosystems and fish resources in the Gulf that have been damaged by the spill.

Bealls has long sold T-shirts and other merchandise designed by Harvey, a marine biologist and artist from Fort Lauderdale.

Now the Bradenton-based retailer sells T-shirts with the Harvey Foundation's Save our Gulf logo. The shirts range in price from $10 for children's shirts to $20 for adults. Bealls' officials say they hope to raise $150,000 by the end of the year through sales of the shirts and discount cards for other merchandise.

“Efforts to clean up the oil and prevent it from further affecting the ecosystem are extremely important,” Mary Beth Fox, head of marketing for Bealls, says in a press release. “Our Gulf is home to thousands of creatures that depend on those waters for feeding and spawning grounds to keep their species alive.”

Sarasota-based Tervis Tumbler, meanwhile, is selling tumblers in five sizes with the Save our Gulf logo. The tumblers are available on the company's Web site and will also be sold in some of the large retail stores the company partners with, including Bealls. The design, which the company showcased the week of July 19 at a national trade show in Atlanta, is generating a positive response from retailers, a Tervis marketing manager tells Coffee Talk.