Small businesses provide the lifeblood of commerce on Key Biscayne | Key Biscayne

A poster with an allegorical message hangs in the Key Biscayne Chamber of Commerce office that reads: “Buy Local or Bye-Bye Local.”

Small businesses, at least 164 of them, make up two-thirds of the island’s work places, including independent Realtors.

“It is the heart and soul of our community,” said the Chamber’s Executive Director, Tatyana Chiocchetti. “We even encourage people to take the Freebee (to shop at those locations).”

National Small Business Week is upon us, celebrated each May 10 – Small Business Day.

According to a comprehensive study by Clarify Capital, called The States and Industries Leading Business Growth, Miami ranks No. 2, behind Orlando, as the nation’s top cities with the most interest in scaling small businesses.

But, it’s not a novel idea. In 2019, Miami vaulted to the No 1 spot for starting a small business in the U.S., according to Biz2Credit’s annual rankings of the Top 25 Cities for Small Business Growth. More than 82,000 small businesses employed a reported 53% of Miami-Dade County’s workforce at that time.

Today, the U.S. has more than 32.5 million small businesses, many mom-and-pop stores, similar to several on Key Biscayne.

Focus on health

Jean Ebbott and John Hayes opened Key to Health in 2004 (now located upstairs in the Galleria Shopping Center), providing the community with supplements, vitamins, herbs and natural groceries.

“Everything good for you,” said Ebbott, who’s been in the business some 40 years but switched from Miami to Key Biscayne to continue offering small-business personal service after a larger grocery chain took over the location of their previous business.

She said her business is successful “because we believe in it. Not monetarily, but we feel so many customers want personal help and answers from someone they trust. It’s a part of our life and we want to share it.”

Ebbott said many people on the island stay fit through exercise and eating right, but just like many small business owners selling retail, she still faces competition from grocery stores, chains and online sales.

“That’s been the worst,” she said. “That’s changed everything.”

Keeping folks connected

Juan Elias knows the feeling. He and his son, Robert, have operated The Cell Phone Store (now in the Harbor Plaza) since May of 1995, turning an AT&T store into an independent, small-business outlet.

“We’ve been pretty successful, well, up until Covid, so it’s been a roller-coaster,” the elder Elias said. “It’s not easy, but our advantage is customer service.”

The Cell Phone Store carries all of the major brands, but his biggest competition comes from Amazon.

“Like all good customer service, you have to have a good relationship with the customers,” he said. “You have to personalize every sale and build that trust. That’s the only way to stay in business.”

He’s learned, through his customers, that the larger the (phone) company is, the more “you’re treated like a number.”

The father of three was born in New York to a mom from the Dominican Republic and a Lebanese dad.

Finding the American dream was difficult at first, Elias worked at least three jobs after his first two kids were born.

“But, I wanted a better life, and I had so many jobs that I was saving money to get into business (for myself), and that is somewhat scary,” he said.

He ended up buying a video store on Key Biscayne, competing with two other similar stores at the time, “and basically tripled our sales in four months.” Then Blockbuster came to the island a couple of years later.

He competed against the national video giant for two years, until he thought “Something had to be better.” That’s when he turned to the burgeoning cell phone business.

Cigars and wine

Eden “Ed” Mekmel moved from Israel to South Florida more than 20 years ago and became part of the business landscape, designing clothing, especially swimwear, on South Beach.

He now operates Lucid Lush in the Harbor Plaza, a cigar store that includes fine wines, Champagne and even sculptures.

“People smoke cigars … it’s still popular,” Mekmel said. “I see it as people getting together, sitting down and taking a time out of life, like a meditation, just kind of stopping everything for a period of time to relax and forget about all the craziness.”

He said good cigars “are like wine, getting better as (the leaves) get older.”

One thing he’s often asked is “Do you sell Cuban cigars?”

“Those are not allowed to be sold in the U.S.,” he said. “I’m going by the book.”

Most “Cuban”-labeled cigars one might see or hear about actually are derived from leaves grown in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and some parts of Honduras, he said.

Asked why “Cuban coffee” is sold here and not cigars, Mekmel wondered, “I really don’t know where that coffee is coming from,” he said, laughing.

Mekmel, who lives in Brickell, enjoys his clientele, male or female, on the island.

“Great people and a great neighborhood,” he said of Key Biscayne.

Italian culinary excellence

Chandra De Silva owns La Scala, a small, popular Italian restaurant in the Key Biscayne Shopping Arcade that follows a simple rule to be successful.

“We have excellent food and personalized service,” DeSilva said. “That’s all.”

The native of Sri Lanka attended culinary school in Italy, where he learned the nuances of “real Italian” food, as well as French cuisine.

After working as a waiter for the Royal Caribbean cruise line, he found a home on Key Biscayne in 1980, when he started out as a waiter at Stefano’s, a former Italian restaurant and nightclub.

He later became part-owner of Key Biscayne’s original La Scala, which was located in the L’Esplanade Mall. But the original La Scala lost its lease when the US Post Office moved in.

As fate would have it, and after operating the Seafood Depot on the island and managing a restaurant on the exclusive Fisher Island, De Silva bought La Scala – again – after it had been opened by the original head chef, Vito, who departed for Italy.

“I took a risk,” De Silva said in an earlier Islander News story. “At that time, La Scala was a dead horse. I bought a restaurant with the same name as my first place, in the same location as my second place. It seems crazy, but it worked out.”

Now, his restaurant is buzzing again, with sounds of Italian music in the background.

“I don’t think of competing (with other restaurants),” he said. “We just do the right thing and offer our best Northern Italian cuisine. All of the people who live on the island support the business.”

Small businesses seem to always be popping up on Key Biscayne. KB Fitness, Krunch by KEBO, Picollini Bambini, Key Market and Move365 are just some recent examples of small businesses pumping life into a small community.

Just remember, “Buy Local.” Or it’s “Bye-Bye Local.”