Bacon’s Furniture & Design, a new and more design-driven format for the Port Charlotte-based company, opened yesterday in the former home of Robb & Stucky on South Tamiami Trail.  It was a soft opening, with an eye toward a grand opening around the first week in November. The concept will be tweaked, room sets will be embellished, and everything is scheduled to be ready for the arrival of snowbirds.

Still, there was plenty to see, and you could easily understand that the store’s mission is to fill the void Robb & Stucky left in our market. In a way, Bacon's aims to go one step further and deliver high style with a new twist: high value. One new brand that does just that is called Caracole. It’s affordable, and designers love it. (By the way, you’ll be happy to know that several formal Robb & Stucky staff designers have been hired by Bacon’s.) Since some of my favorites worked out of Robb & Stucky Patio, I’m hoping they’ll be on board when Bacon’s Outdoor Living opens directly across Tamiami Trail from the interiors store in January (in Bacon’s former Thomasville concept store).

Getting back to Caracole. It’s produced by Schnadig, a venerable North Carolina company, and the furniture is original and fun. Every piece has a clever name, like this Star Light, Star Bright Bed.





Friends and business collaborators John Murse (owner of Rugs As Art) and Bill Bacon took time out to explain how rugs will be integrated into furniture settings on the main floor to create a total look.


Rugs As Art will open a Rugs As Art Design Resource Center on the second floor at Bacon’s in a couple of weeks, and they’ve hired the former manager of Robb & Stucky’s floor covering department to manage this new venture. John and Bill have tested the concept of merging their expertise in Bacon’s Port Charlotte store, which has had a Rugs As Art component for several years.

One fun example is the new Lilly Pulitzer department, where John added a brightly colored Tufenkian wool carpet to the setting brimming with Lilly’s high-powered colors. Jeff Bacon tells me their stores have the exclusive on Lilly on the west coast of Florida. We’ve been wondering when this brand would hit Sarasota—love, love, love the citrus and ocean colors and patterns.



In fact, I’ve been holding on to some great photos of Lilly stuff since the press launch in High Point, N.C., a year ago. Here are a couple of my favorites:





The store offers a cross-section of brands from Lexington to Tommy Bahama, an entire Thomasville store within a store, and the hot new line by celeb chef Paula Deen.  

Bacon’s Furniture & Design: 7557 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota (941) 894-3090

“Collectors are back,” Queens’ Wreath Jewels’ Tina Little told us Saturday evening, as she feted a couple dozen of her best customers on a sunset cocktail cruise around Sarasota Bay aboard the 110-foot yacht, The Entrepreneur, that she’d chartered from Vern and Sandy Buchanan.

On board, and taking center stage amid a glittering display of his new collection of jewels and those of his wife, Laura, was Beverly Hills-based master jewelry designer Michael Beaudry of the eponymously named House of Beaudry.

So what are high-end jewelry collectors buying? “They’re highly focused, asking, ‘How can this enhance my existing collection?’” Tina says. “And they’re concentrating on understated pieces.” All the rage right now: black diamonds. Tina herself was wearing a long strand of faceted black diamond beads interspersed with the occasional white diamond, in all about 400 carats. “This is a $100,000 necklace,” she told us, “but you’d never know it.”

At cruise’s end, before disembarking, we stopped to thank Tina for the experience, but she was otherwise occupied, surrounded by buyers snapping up baubles.

The Best of Sarasota, one of Sarasota Magazine’s most popular issues, will launch with a sneak preview party from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, April 26, at beautiful Selby Gardens that will introduce guests to a bevy of winners gracing this May’s issue.  Bringing the Best of Sarasota issue’s pages to life will be the top names in categories from restaurants to retail. Myriad treats and surprises are in store for party-goers—everything from pomegranate martinis to applewood smoked salmon cones, golf swing tips from the pros, informal modeling and lots, lots more. The popular reggae band Democracy will be on hand to entertain. And best of all, a portion of the proceeds benefits Selby Gardens and Season of Sharing.

The magazine polled readers on their favorite restaurants by category of food (American, French, Mexican, etc.) and by special occasion (most romantic) and setting (best waterfront).

Digging deeper into Sarasota’s dining hot spots, we asked for best steakhouse, fish restaurant, barbecue, burger and much, much more. The result is a comprehensive list of new and old restaurants to try—especially after sampling specialties at the party.

In record numbers this year, readers also weighed in (no pun intended) on the best grocery store, bakery, pizza and wine stores in town—the list goes on. But Sarasota doesn’t just live to eat, so the Best of Sarasota issue covers arts and entertainment, sports, the local bar scene and men’s and women’s clothing stores.

The Best of Sarasota party also features our editors’ and reporters’ picks for “The Best of the New”—the hottest new dishes, businesses, cultural events and recreational opportunities they discovered this year.

Join the love fest on April 26, but tickets are limited; get yours now at www.sarasotamagazine.com.