LARGO \u2014 Sunny Sip, a new drinks shops at 1764 N. Missouri Ave., certainly lives up to its name.<\/p>\n
The business\u2019s menu of unique drinks, coupled with a sun-splashed location adorned with a colorful mural, exudes warmth, charm and positive vibes on that busy stretch of road.<\/p>\n
Owners Matt and Kimberly Mayberry hope those factors, combined with a mission to become an integral part of the community, help make their new venture a sipping success.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is our own brand, built from the ground up,\u201d said Matt Mayberry, a former software salesman who ditched his corporate job to pursue an entrepreneurial dream. \u201cI wanted to get out of the office and get involved in the community in a real way, to have a place that people want to come to and that can contribute to the community in a positive way.\u201d<\/p>\n
After researching the hottest trends and consulting with family members in the Midwest, Mayberry landed on a variant of the popular \u201cdirty soda\u201d craze.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t want to be just another coffee place,\u201d he said. \u201cWe knew that dirty sodas \u2014 or sodas loaded with toppings and syrups \u2014 are huge out west. So we went off that and built a business that has something for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sunny Sip menu has five categories: espresso-based coffee drinks, sodas, lemonades, energy drinks and teas. Each drink is customizable with several options to choose from.<\/p>\n
The menu features names like Electric Feel, Pump You Up, Lava Lamp and Wave Pool, and offers sugar-free and kids\u2019 options.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the sodas are made to order,\u201d Mayberry noted. \u201c(We) carry over 70 syrups right now. So customers can order their drinks any way they want.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a walk-up counter, as well as an online app \u2014 what Mayberry calls the drink-thru through lane. He hopes to draw customers from Clearwater and Largo.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to build relationships with both communities, based on where we\u2019re located,\u201d Mayberry said. \u201cSo I reached out to the Largo High art teachers and asked if they would allow their students to paint the mural on the outside wall. And I plan to do the same with Clearwater High.\u201d<\/p>\n
The six-week, student-led project also led to several store hires.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope we\u2019re part of lifting this part of town up a bit,\u201d Mayberry said. \u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to do is be part of the neighborhood, for personal and business reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kimberly Mayberry said the fact that Sunny Sip is a family affair \u2014 their 10-year-old daughter, Emma, regularly helps out \u2014 softened the blow when Matt proposed the leap from a cushy, corporate gig to a risky, retail start-up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t be the first time Matt\u2019s put his mind to something and made it happen,\u201d she said with a laugh. \u201cBut we got on board quickly and got excited about it when we saw how we all fit in. And we\u2019re pinching ourselves now that all the hard work and sacrifices we made are starting to pay off.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Palm Harbor couple hopes to open three Sunny Sips in the next five years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d love to have one somewhere in North County,\u201d Matt Mayberry said. \u201c(But) our immediate goal is to make this place work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LARGO \u2014 Sunny Sip, a new drinks shops at 1764 N. Missouri Ave., certainly lives up to its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[19094,19096,19095,202,204,203,199,201,200,19093],"class_list":["post-25070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-family-business","tag-kimberly-mayberry","tag-matt-mayberry","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-sunny-sip"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}