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Hop Over To HipHop

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By LENORA LAKE, Tribune correspondent

Published: October 20, 2007

Updated: 10/19/2007 12:33 am

UNIVERSITY AREA - The nation's first HipHopSodaShop, a music-themed restaurant and video gaming center, is expected to open before the end of the year on Fowler Avenue.

E.E. Global Enterprises, a Tampa Bay area-based company, plans the eatery at 1241 E. Fowler Ave., site of the now-closed Bull Ring sports bar. That business folded this year after a little more than a year in operation.

E.E. Global's principle investors are Eric Von Billington, 35, of Tampa, a former video producer, and Eric Green, 49, of St. Petersburg. Green is the founder of Everyone's Youth United, a nonprofit educational organization in St. Petersburg. Billington plans to be an on-site manager, and Green will continue with his St. Petersburg organization.
Billington said this week that E.E. Global purchased a licensing agreement from H3 Enterprises in New York. That company plans to open Hip- HopSodaShop locations across the country. H3 Enterprises' president and chief executive officer is Ben Chavis, former head of the NAACP, who took over leadership of H3 Enterprises in June.

H3 had planned to open the first shop in St. Petersburg at 8901 Fourth St. N., but that shop was delayed by zoning problems, Billington said.

'We were just waiting in the wings,' Green said.

'I looked at the concept, the idea, and knew it would do very well in the University Area,' Billington said.

This is the second time the area near the University of South Florida has been named as a site for a HipHopSoda- Shop. In June 2006, a news release stated one would open on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard less than a mile from the University of South Florida. That shop, with former Tampa Bay Buccaneers player Warren Sapp as a partner, never materialized. The plans shifted to the St. Petersburg store. Sapp is not involved in the Fowler Avenue operation.

At the same time, H3 Enterprises, founded by entrepreneur Brian Peters with investments from rapper Juelz Santana and NBA star Ben Gordon, announced plans for shops in New York in Harlem and Union Square. Those stores are 'still waiting in the wings,' Green said.
Billington said the decor of the former Bull Ring will change to grey, red and black with brushed-aluminum accents.

'We want it to have a hip-hop feel with some elegance,' Billington said.

The site will have a restaurant and full bar, a multipurpose room that can be used for birthday parties and business meetings, and a gaming area. Billington said. The menu will include wraps, chicken sandwiches and burgers. It is expected to be open from 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. Friday to 3 a.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday. Hours might be extended on Thursdays.

He said he didn't have a dollar amount for the decor's change-out, 'but the place had $750,000 worth of renovations about two years ago. The building itself was very ready-to-go.'

Green said the 'place is going to give jobs to young adults, too.'
Billington said he expects to have 40 to 50 employees.

'This is really exciting. Here we are building, creating what will be all over the world,' Green said.

Correspondent Lenora Lake can be reached at (813) 865-4851 or llake@tampatrib.com.

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