By Cathy Ciccolella
Senior Editor

SARASOTA, Fla.--Once a sleepy retirement/resort community on the Gulf of Mexico, Sarasota is growing--and changing--rapidly these days.

The last few years have seen a boom in construction in the area, particularly in 2004 and 2005 when a sizzling real-estate market fueled growth. Population levels are climbing fast: Sarasota County’s population surged by nearly 42,000--to 367,867--between 2000 and 2005.

And while retirees still make up 26.4 percent of the county’s residents, many new arrivals are younger. When U.S. census data released last month revealed that the area’s median age had dropped to 49.4--versus a national median age of 36.4, and 39.5 for Florida as a whole--it was front-page news in the local daily.

With these new residents have come new business opportunities. Sarasotans who once were hard-pressed to find weekday dinner after 8 p.m. anywhere but Denny’s now choose among a plethora of late-night restaurants and nightspots targeting a broad variety of tastes and pocketbooks. And Sarasota’s downtown area, once seen as rolling up the sidewalks after 5 p.m., now finds those sidewalks busy, if not bustling, every evening.

Because the area remains skewed toward an older demographic, ophthalmology--particularly providing cataract surgery--has traditionally had a strong foothold here. With just a few national chain stores--LensCrafters, Pearle Vision and Visionworks--plus Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club locations with optical in the area, independent optometrists and opticians also have a healthy chunk of the marketplace. In total, Sarasota had an estimated 116 eyewear/eyecare locations as of mid-2006, generating $72.5 million in annual revenues.

Sarasota’s optical retailers differ on how recent growth has impacted their businesses.

Ron Soto, owner of Soto’s Optical Boutique in downtown Sarasota, is a lifelong resident whose brother, Fred Soto, OD, has a separate optometric practice a few miles away.

With several high-rise condos recently completed a few blocks from his store, and another under construction down the street, Ron Soto has already begun seeing more store traffic. “From the day people began closing on these condos, we started getting more customers,” he told VM. “The average age seems a bit older, since most people moving in are retired--but they’re buying upscale frames.”

Soto remembers when downtown Sarasota was not a shopping destination--instead, shoppers drove out to St. Armands Circle near the beach or to nearby malls. But the downtown renaissance helped give his store its best-ever winter season this year.

Retailer Sharon Katzman of Ioptics, on the other hand, feels Sarasota’s eyewear market has not yet experienced a full wave of growth. Katzman opened her store--in a 1926-era cottage in Sarasota’s historic Burns Court area--in 1998. Since then, “we’ve seen a smooth, steady climb in terms of sales, but I’m still waiting to see a big spurt due to the recent population growth,” she said.

After all, “most of those downtown condos are still vacant, and many were bought by local residents just moving from one area to another, so we’re still seeing many of the same customers.”

Added Katzman, “I’m not unhappy with my level of business, but I don’t see it surging by leaps and bounds because of new people in town.” One factor helping Ioptics’ sales this year, she noted, is an Oliver Peoples boutique installed inside the store in February. Since then, “we’ve had a great increase in sales of that line.”

A few miles south in the town of Venice, population growth--from 17,764 in 2000 to 20,800 last year--has boosted traffic at 21-year-old Eyewear Artistry, said manager Jamie Clarke.

With a median age in 2002 of 69 (one of the nation’s oldest), and 65.5 percent of its residents aged 65 or older, Venice is a mecca for retirees. Lately, however, Eyewear Artistry has drawn a younger clientele, Clarke told VM. “We’ve certainly noticed more younger people coming into the store,” she said. “Many of them seem to be Baby Boomers retiring early. A few years ago our customers were mostly older seniors--now they’re more in the 50 to 60 range.”

In response to its changing customer base, Eyewear Artistry shifted its product mix over the past year toward more fashion-oriented frames. “I’m trying to have more unique styles, not just mainstream--I like to experiment with different styles,” Clarke said.

The new approach appears to be working. “So far this year, our sales are up about 60 percent,” Clarke said, “due to a mixture of the area’s growth, our efforts to appeal to every pocketbook with stylish frames, and more advertising.”