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Tiki's - A Clothing Experience
Revisited
Tiki’s clothing store located
on E. Marion and Wood Street in Punta Gorda is owned by Matt
Nemec.
Instead of exotic, island
drinks, this “Tiki’s” serves up a casually elegant
line of clothing, shoes
 and
accessories, featuring Tommy Bahama, Brighton, Eagle
Dry Goods, Kahala, Alvin and the Dickie Walker as
well as other fine clothing lines.
Matt’s background in the clothing business began
when at the age of 16 he secured a job at
Mosenfelder & Sons, a high-end men’s clothing store,
in Rock Island, Illinois.
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Feature Story:
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Tiki's - A Clothing Experience
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Matt quickly learned how to chalk a suit for clients
who wanted custom suits made by the Hungarian
tailors in the basement. Later on, while he was
attending Western Illinois University in MacComb,
Illinois Matt worked in Herbert’s Men Store, soon
becoming their Assistant Manager.
One day however, Matt’s
career path took a different turn as his
start in the auto industry began rather
innocently. While Matt was looking to buy an
inexpensive used car, he found himself
talking to a friend of a friend of a friend
who sold cars.This fellow talked him into
coming to work for him selling cars with the
promise he would be able to buy a nicer car
for himself. This led to a 26 year career in
the automobile industry, however, Matt never
let go of the dream to own his own clothing
store. He set a goal that by age 50; he
would have his own clothing store. He met
that goal 5 years early.
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In 1978, Matt married his high school
sweetheart, Carrie and in 1984 they moved
from the Quad City area in Iowa to Florida.
Their move was prompted by a downturn in the
Iowa economy, resulting in large layoffs in
the farming industry such as John Deere. .
They chose Florida as they wanted an area
where their income would not be so affected
by the economy. Matt and Carrie were
somewhat familiar with the area as they had
honeymooned in the surrounding area and
Carrie’s parents at the time lived in Ft.
Myers Beach.
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They flew into
Ft. Myers that summer day and only to
discover the air-conditioner in the condo
they were to stay in was on the blink. They
took a drive to Port Charlotte where Matt
interviewed with Bob and Bonnie Elliott who
owned the Trail Toyota Dealership. While
Matt was interviewing, Carrie took off to
look at houses and soon located a beautiful
home in Section 23 in Deep Creek. This house
was the only home in Deep Creek at that
time, except for some homes on Harborview.
The house had been built by a gentleman for
his mother, but unfortunately she died
before she had a chance to move in. The
Nemec’s rented this house for four years
before building their |
new home also in the Deep
Creek area. After settling in, Carrie went
to work for Palmer Furniture on Marion
Avenue which was located where the River
City Grill is today. In fact, there were
only four businesses opened at that time in
the downtown area, Palmer Furniture, Al
Morgan’s Jewelry, Waldo’s Bistro and Bill’s
Fishing Tackle. Carrie then went on to work
for Bacon Furniture before opening her own
shop “Carrie’s Interiors” in Port Charlotte
thirteen years ago. Their children, Tara and
Nicholas grew up and attended the local
schools. Nick played baseball, ran
cross-country and track while at Charlotte
High and will graduate from Florida State
University this summer. He will be attending
dental school at Nova S.E. in Ft.
Lauderdale. During high school, cheerleading
and many club activities kept Tara very
busy. After graduating from Charlotte High,
she attended Tallahassee Community College
for six months and then decided she wanted
to be a part of her dad’s new business.
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Tiki's
Dressing Room |
Matt and Carrie
recognized Punta Gorda was an up and coming
place and it would be the place for his new
business. Matt knew he wanted to be close
to the downtown area, but had exhausted all
possibilities to locate there. Then one
December day while he and his son Nick were
attending a football game in Tampa for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
and the Pittsburgh Steelers, he received a
phone call that would change his life.
Carrie phoned to say she had put a
non-refundable deposit on the building that
would soon become Tiki’s.
On January 7, 2003, Matt resigned his
position as Sales Manager at the |
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Desoto Auto Mall in Arcadia where he
had worked for the last 9 years and two days
later, Matt’s dream started to unfold and
become a reality.
Located across the
street from Punta Gorda’s new courthouse,
the store is a definite destination stop; it
is a free standing building with 25 parking
spaces. Over the years there had been
several different types of businesses at
this location. In fact, in the 50’s, it was
the old Trailway’s Bus Station. Relying on
Carrie’s expertise as an interior designer,
the building underwent a major
transformation; they installed hardwood
floors, painted and wallpapered. The result
was a classy retail store with a casual
island atmosphere. Originally, Matt intended
to sell only men’s clothing, but during the
store’s remodeling, Carrie convinced him to
carry ladies clothing as well. Matt wanted
to create a niche for the residents of Punta
Gorda, a place to buy upper end clothing; so
they wouldn’t have to drive to Sarasota or
Naples.
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parrot sculpture and a laughing shark, both
dressed in Tommy Bahama attire, greet you as
you enter the store along with a pink
flamingo beckoning the ladies to come
upstairs to shop. Matt and Carrie wanted the
name of the shop to be short and catchy, and
over a couple of glasses of wine one
evening, Tiki’s name evolved. During the
remodeling phase, Soniat Fuller who had
recently moved here from Hawaii, stopped by
and inquired if Matt knew of anyone who
might need some artwork, signs or murals
done. Matt told her he was looking for a
sign for his new business. She presented him
with a design that was just what he was
looking for. Bamboo sticks making up the
Tiki letters with a banana tree to the side –
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simple but fun. Adding to
the ambience, Tara, her former art teacher
from Charlotte High and two fellow art
students surprised Matt by painting a mural
on the sidewalk/patio outside the shop,
extending the island aura to the outside.
Matt opened Tiki’s the day of the second
Gallery Walk, March 15, 2003. By July, Matt
knew he needed a way to get people to his
store during the Gallery Walk. So he made a
call to Marian Snyder who owns the Boca
Grande Trolley and inquired about hiring the
Trolley for the Gallery Walks. A deal was
made and Matt financed the trolley for eight
months. As an added incentive to stop by his
store on Gallery night, Matt arranges for
different musicians or bands to play steel
drums, blues, country or rock, outside. All
of the businesses benefited from the trolley
moving the crowds around town, especially
Tiki’s neighbors to the west of Wood Street.
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Donna Stively
and Tara Nemec |
Nancy Kustron |
Matt is grateful to have three
friendly and knowledgeable employees as well as
himself to assist his customers. Nancy Kustron, who
moved here from Charleston, SC., has been
with the store since its opening. |
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Donna Stively, a friend of
Nancy’s and former co-worker came on board this past
winter and of course his daughter, Tara. Having Tara
work with him everyday, gives this daughter and
father an opportunity to establish a relationship
not afforded them when Tara was growing up.
Matt set up an awareness
program based on his experience in marketing and as
a result, he has watched his business steadily
climb. He attends all the major apparel shows in
order to stay on top of the newest trends. He
travels to Magic, the largest apparel mart in the
world, held at the Las Vegas Convention Center as
well as New York, Miami and Orlando. He strives to
keep his store’s merchandise fresh so his customers
will always find something new when they visit.
Matt’s attention to detail and his pride in
ownership is evident throughout the store. Matt also
has an arrangement with Helen Gerro and Greg Clark,
owners of “A Perfect Fit” to handle alterations for
his customers. This conveniently located shop is one
block west on Marion Street.
Matt wants his customers to have a pleasant shopping
experience so he strives to keep things fresh and
fun. He has chosen a wide
selection of music that fills Tiki’s air,
both inside and out with reggae,
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beach, island
jazz and blues. Tiki’s new gift boxes
are designed to look like
pizza boxes with Tiki’s name printed on
them. Matt also designed caps with
Paradise and either 33950 or 33955 printed
on them and a T-shirt sporting a martini
glass with a redfish on the toothpick in
place of the olive. |
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On the first anniversary of the
shop, Matt ran an ad on the radio announcing a
women’s shoe sale, featuring the very popular
Brighton’s shoe line. In the first three hours of
the sale, he sold 66 pairs of shoes! Recently Matt
was approved to carry the Brighton handbag line.
Beginning in July, Matt will devote an entire room
showcasing Brighton handbags and shoes.He has created an atmosphere
where a couple can come in and shop comfortably
together. Men’s clothing is located on the first
floor and women’s clothing is upstairs which works
out quite nicely. Tiki’s offers clothing, belts,
shoes, jewelry for both men and women as well as a
selection of and swimwear for men.
He has also recently added the Jack Black skin line for men,
pointing out that last year, 2.1 billion was spent
on men’s skin care.
Customer Service is not merely
lip service here. When you walk into Tiki’s,
everyone is greeted with a smile, a welcome and an
introduction. Matt says the greatest compliment he
can receive from a customer is that they have gone out of
their way to come into Tiki’s. Matt wants
people to know they can find high quality,
affordable clothing right
here in their own town.
Matt’s enthusiasm is evident
when he is taking about the clothing business. Punta Gorda is
fortunate to have Matt as member of the business
community; he is enthusiastic and totally committed to the future of
Punta Gorda. He believes in the importance of buying
local whenever possible and supporting those who have
invested in our community.
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"If you are really living... you are enjoying the Punta Gorda
Life"
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