Another business turned around by “The Profit” Marcus Lemonis is coming to Jacksonville.
The Denim & Soul high-end clothing and accessories retailer intends to open at St. Johns Town Center in the space vacated by Cache.
Lemonis featured Denim & Soul in November during Season 4 of the CNBC reality show. The San Francisco denim retailer operated on a concept of serving jeans at a bar setting rather than drinks, but suffered from poor management and overly aggressive expansion, according to theprofitupdates.com.
It had expanded to 13 stores, but just three remained.
During the episode, Blues Jean Bar was rebranded as Denim & Soul. The owner, Lady Fuller, and Lemonis agreed he would buy 50 percent of the business for $900,000 and control how it was spent.
The marcuslemonis.com site says Denim & Soul features “an eclectic mix of pieces” stemming from Fuller’s vision. It says that in 2004, Fuller opened a network of The Blues Jean Bar boutiques, which evolved into Denim & Soul last fall.
The site says with assistance from Lemonis, Denim & Soul transformed Fuller’s urban fashion ideals into a “modern, laid back luxury boutique” of clothing and accessories for men and women. It is based in Chicago.
Denim & Soul now has four stores in San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago and Lake Forest, Ill. Stores are listed at denimandsoul.com as “coming soon” to Dallas and Jacksonville.
The city is reviewing a permit for an estimated $200,000 renovation of the St. Johns Town Center space for Denim & Soul by River City Contractors Inc.
Erika Kanaval, media services director for Marcus Lemonis LLC in Lincolnshire, Ill., said in an email the group is excited about the opportunity for Denim & Soul in Jacksonville, but couldn’t comment.
“We are focusing our efforts on store construction and are not yet ready to comment publicly on the opening,” Kanaval said.
Lemonis featured Jacksonville’s Sweet Pete’s candy store in 2014 on “The Profit.” After Lemonis made a 50 percent investment in the business, Sweet Pete’s moved Downtown from Springfield into the historic renovated Seminole Club and expanded to Lake Forest, Ill., near Chicago.
Lemonis also is an owner in AutoMatch USA, which has a Jacksonville operation at 9012 Beach Blvd. It matches a buyer’s needs and budget to a vehicle.
In addition to his investments, Lemonis is chair and CEO of Camping World Inc., an RV superstore with a Jacksonville location at 10101 Interstate Center Drive. He also leads Good Sam Enterprises Inc., a club for RV owners.
Coffee drive-thru taking over car wash
Alyona’s Coffee Co. should open in a few months at the former Crystal Clear Car Wash along Atlantic Boulevard, near Century 21 Drive.
Owner Sergey Sushinskiy said he and his wife, Alyona, will own and operate the coffee drive-thru and drink concept, which he said is common in the Northwest U.S.
He said Alyona is from Spokane, Wash., and the couple wants to give the drive-thru a try in Jacksonville.
If it works, there could be more. “We’ll be testing the water and take it from there,” he said.
Alyona’s Coffee will offer coffees, cappuccinos, teas, specialty drinks and, given that it’s Florida, cold drinks, too.
Sushinskiy said he owns the former car wash, which sits on about a third of an acre at 7850 Atlantic Blvd. Records show the property was sold in May.
The city is reviewing a permit to remodel the 580-square-foot building for Alyona’s Coffee Co.
Land changes hands for Pilot travel center
Robert’s Diesel Service Inc. sold property in Northwest Jacksonville to Pilot Travel Centers LLC for development at southwest Pritchard Road and Interstate 295.
Robert’s Diesel sold the property for $4 million in a deed executed Jan. 6 and recorded with the Duval County Clerk of Court on Tuesday.
Robert’s Diesel also issued a $2 million promissory note to Pilot Travel Centers to be paid back by Jan. 15, 2026.
Pilot Flying J said in August it intended to develop an almost 9-acre, more than $4 million Pilot Travel Center at the site. It is expected to include a drive-thru Arby’s as well as a Cinnabon and PJ Fresh.
Pilot Centers cater to truckers and other travelers by selling fuel, food and other items. Pilot is based in Knoxville, Tenn., and also has centers west of Jacksonville off of I-10 and south off I-95 at County Road 210.
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