At Christmas, Tampa’s Hyde Park Village lost Vineyard Vines, Ella Bing Haberdashery

TAMPA — Two retailers at the outdoor shopping mecca Hyde Park Village closed over the Christmas holidays — one a well-known national clothing store, the other a local family-owned men’s shop.

Vineyard Vines, which sells clothing and accessories that often bear a distinctive pink whale logo, shuttered its doors Christmas Eve, a company spokesperson confirmed to the Tampa Bay Times via email.

Shoppers hoping for post-holiday sales of Vineyard Vines shirts, sweaters and sundresses instead encountered a shop emptied of merchandise even as a giant stuffed marlin still hung from the ceiling.

The Vineyard Vines spokesperson did not answer questions about why the store closed after more than six years in Hyde Park, but said their stores remain open in Sarasota and Orlando and online.

Also closed: The Ella Bing Haberdashery, which opened on Snow Circle tucked behind the Lululemon store four years ago.

Previously in the nearby SoHo District, it started as a true haberdashery selling men’s clothing and accessories, but with the pandemic pivoted to become more of a men’s gift store with dress socks, coffee mugs and the bowties the store was known for.

“We just went more gift-based and people responded to it and loved it,” said store owner Brent Kraus.

He said the store closed for a combination of reasons: The burnout of years of running brick-and-mortar retail, and the cost. Rent got more expensive, he said, and ultimately Hyde Park Village declined to extend their lease.

“We’re going to do online,” Kraus said. “We had looked for awhile for another location, but Hyde Park is a great spot and we didn’t feel there was a lateral move for us.” Still, the store may reopen in Tampa or St. Petersburg, he said.

Kraus said it doesn’t seem that Hyde Park has “a focus anymore on small business. They’re kind of building their portfolio.”

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A spokesperson for Hyde Park Village declined to comment on the closings, but sent the Tampa Bay Times a list of new businesses scheduled to open there in 2023.

They include The Salty, an artisanal doughnut shop; a Champagne and cocktail bar called Bouzy; Barry’s fitness studio; fast-casual restaurant Sweetgreen; and a Gorjana jewelry store.

The center also has plans to open Palihouse, a boutique hotel with 36 suites that will be located above On Swann restaurant.