If you've walked to the corner of Park Avenue and New England Avenue this fall looking for Tuni, you found Lilly Pulitzer. The boutique that held 301 S. Park Ave. since 1986 is still in business. It's around the corner on West Fairbanks Avenue, inside a building that sold hammers and garden hose for 80 years.
The move took place over the summer, but its cause goes back almost two years to one real estate transaction. That transaction now shapes where holiday shopping happens in downtown Winter Park.
The Sale Behind the Corner
In September 2024, Benderson Development, based in University Park, Florida, bought Park Plaza for $16.25 million. GrowthSpotter reported that the sale closed September 25. The building has 25,000 square feet at 307 S. Park Ave., with shops on the ground floor and a 28-room boutique hotel upstairs.
Brian Grandstaff of Millenia Partners represented the seller. He told GrowthSpotter the deal was the largest single transaction in the history of Park Avenue, measured by both size and price. The building dates to 1922. It opened as the Hamilton Hotel, Winter Park's first hotel, and took the Park Plaza name after a renovation in the late 1970s. Its upstairs balconies face Central Park, the green space the Avenue is named for.
When the sale closed, the ground floor had five retail spaces and was fully leased:
- Bovine Steakhouse
- Pristine Nail & Dayspa
- The Vintage Vault wine store
- Tuni
- Bebe Baby Boutique and Liz's Fashion Experience
Grandstaff also called Park Avenue "recession-proof." He said there is always a lot of interest whenever a restaurant or retail space on the Avenue becomes vacant. That level of demand helps explain why a long-running local lease and a national retailer's interest ended up competing for the same corner.
Thirty Days After Forty Years
In mid-June 2026, Tuni announced in a Facebook video that it had to leave its storefront. Owner Paige Blackwelder told News 6 WKMG that Benderson had decided not to renew the lease because it wanted a national brand in the space, and that the store had 30 days to move. She said she had known a move could come when the lease ran out. The short notice was what surprised her.
"This is not a closure. We're going to close this door but open another one."
Paige Blackwelder, Tuni owner, to News 6 WKMG
Blackwelder told News 6 that customers had been sending her ideas, contacts and photos of for-lease signs. In a statement to the station, the Park Avenue District said it would help the boutique find ways to stay in the district it had "helped shape for decades." City Manager Randy Knight told FOX 35 that the city hoped Tuni could find another Park Avenue location and stay part of the Avenue's "retail family."
In June, nobody had said publicly which national retailer was taking the corner. By late August, that was settled.
One Storefront Changed, and Then Another
Bungalower reported on August 24 that Lilly Pulitzer was open at 301 S. Park Ave. The resort-wear brand had been on Park Avenue before, farther north at 114-118 N. Park Ave. Brandy Melville, another national brand, opened in that space earlier in 2026. So two storefronts on the Avenue changed hands this year as one retailer moved between them.
| Address | Earlier tenant | Tenant in 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 301 S. Park Ave., at New England Ave. | Tuni, from 1986 | Lilly Pulitzer, open by late August |
| 114-118 N. Park Ave. | Lilly Pulitzer | Brandy Melville, opened earlier in 2026 |
| 214 N. Park Ave. | Louise James Boutique, from 2019 | Closing announced in August |
| 143 W. Fairbanks Ave. | Miller's Hardware, 80 years | Tuni pop-up |
The north end of the Avenue changed too, for reasons unrelated to Park Plaza. Louise James Boutique, a women's clothing shop known for its pink storefront and European-inspired pieces, announced in August that it would close its location at 214 N. Park Ave. Owner Katie Bullivant began the business online and opened the Winter Park store in 2019. In early September, the Orlando Business Journal reported Lilly Pulitzer's return and Louise James's closing in the same story. It described the Louise James space as 2,024 square feet.
So this year one well-known local boutique left Park Avenue because of a lease decision, a second chose to close, and two national brands took prominent storefronts.
A Block South, in the Hardware Store
Tuni relocated, but not far.
Miller's Hardware announced its closing and liquidation sale on April 8, 2026, ending a family-run business that had lasted 80 years on West Fairbanks Avenue. With a mostly empty building and a neighbor that needed space quickly, Miller's took Tuni in. FOX 35 quoted Bob Canfield, Miller's general manager. "Big plans are going on on Park Avenue right now," Canfield said. "We're gonna be here, we're empty, we have the space and we welcomed them."
FOX 35 described the setup as "a mix of high-style meets hardware," with Tuni signs going up while a few aisles of leftover stock still sat at 75% off. Blackwelder told the station that shoes would go on the tables, jewelry in the towers and dressing rooms along one side. "It's going to take a lot to make a hardware store to look like a boutique," she said. Bungalower reported Tuni's move into the space on July 12.
FOX 35 reported that the arrangement was for three months and that Blackwelder hoped to be back on Park Avenue eventually. Tuni's website lists the pop-up at 143 W. Fairbanks Ave. with these hours:
- Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.
The site also describes Tuni as a mother-and-daughter business offering personal styling, closet consults and private shopping parties. Those services don't depend on a corner storefront. FOX 35 also reported that Miller's was still deciding what to do with the property.
The Side Streets Are Filling In
Fairbanks isn't the only street around the Avenue where a longtime space has a new tenant. On October 6, Mecatos Bakery & Cafe soft-opened at 610 W. Morse Blvd. in the former home of the Coop, which Bungalower reports closed in July 2023 after nearly a decade there. The café serves Colombian coffee and baked goods. It's run by Ana Rosabal, her parents Juan and Linda Rosabal, and partner Barbara Moreno.
This summer, while the Park Avenue streetscape work was underway, West Fairbanks and Hannibal Square were already drawing more of downtown's activity. The fall storefront changes go further in the same direction. A holiday shopping loop that used to stay on Park Avenue now has stops on Fairbanks and Morse, too:
- Start at the Park Plaza building, 301 to 307 S. Park Ave., across from Central Park. Lilly Pulitzer is in the corner space.
- Head north to 114-118 N. Park Ave., where Brandy Melville is in Lilly Pulitzer's former space.
- Go south past the Park and New England corner to 143 W. Fairbanks Ave. for Tuni's pop-up in the former Miller's Hardware.
- Finish west on Morse at Mecatos, 610 W. Morse Blvd.
For four decades, Park Avenue's best-known local boutique was easy to find at the Park and New England corner. Since July, it has been a block south on West Fairbanks, and its owner has said publicly that she would like to return to the Avenue.
If you're considering a home within walking distance of Park Avenue, or a discreet sale of one nearby, Elite Sport Network can walk you through how the blocks between Fairbanks, Morse and Central Park are changing. Book a private consultation.
