Coffee and music appear in unlikely location

Fort Myers coffee shop proprietor Nita Flores Fort Myers coffee shop proprietor Nita Flores closed "Nita's Sweet Bean Café," in Sam's Club Plaza last winter when a relationship with the building's attendant went south, and he locked her out.

But she reopened on the opposite side of the Plaza April 14 in the gallery of the Denny Grimes Real Estate building to make another go at her vision: an independent coffee house, café and venue for local musicians.

Her touch of bohemia adds a unique flavor to this mini mall, which also includes Denny Grimes Real Estate and a liposuction clinic, and a boutique store called Shimmer & Chic.

At the far end of the gallery, sales associate Stephanie Zmijeski was keeping an eye on the store's jewelry, accessories and gifts.

"It's definitely a versatile building," she said. "As weird as it is that (Flores) has the bohemian style going on and we have the up scale boutique and the real-estate…People come in for real-estate and then they shop and then go get coffee. It just all seems to work."

At Flores' outdoor patio last Tuesday afternoon, customers listened to musical group The Hot Chick & the Guy, who look just like their name, and play every Tuesday and Thursday at noon. They played some original and some alternative favorites, she singing soulfully to his deeply considered guitar strumming.

Pond Water Experiment, a local favorite, playing riveting world music style rock n' roll, are coming back to town from Asheville, N.C. for two concerts, one at Nita's Sweat Bean Café in the gallery of the Denny Grimes building, on Wed. May 14 from 8 p.m. to 11.

If you go

>>What: Pond Water Experiment

>>When: Wed., May 14, from 8 to 11 p.m.

>>Where: Nita's Sweat Bean Café, 1870 Clayton Court, Fort Myers (across from Sam's Club Plaza).

>>Cost: $10

>>Info: Call 275-9000