Best of ORL 2021 – Home & Shopping
Our readers voted for the best. Find out who won below!
Food & Drink | Home & Shopping | People & Media | Fun & Leisure | Health & Beauty | Kids & Pets
ROBERTO GONZALEZ
Gift Shop
Maffrey’s
Goods with Good Stories
Jeff Starks and Matt Engel opened Maffrey’s “Good Goods” in Ivanhoe Village in March 2020. Starks, a former Disney merchandise manager, designed the boutique. Engel, a professional travel director, brought the design elements to life. Days later, the pandemic shut them down. Maffrey’s reopened two months later to such demand that the shop moved into a larger space next to The Hammered Lamb. “People were really hungry for things that had a good story attached to it,” Starks says.
The couple curates products that are largely made by women, mostly recycled and socially forward, all with compelling stories behind them. About 85 percent of the stock is made in America. Crafts by 17 local artisans are featured, such as eco-friendly soy candles made by The Plum Owl using beer bottles recycled from Orlando-area bars. Other goods include recycled jewelry, whimsically-designed “FUN Socks,” soap scrubs, small-batch craft cocktail mixes, and seasonal items for holidays and events, including meet-the-artisan gatherings.
“We’re thrilled to be an integral part of Ivanhoe Village,” Starks says. “We both love this city so much because of its diversity and inclusion, and we’re getting to make our little mark. It means the world to us.” —Jennie Hess
Gift Shop
1 Maffrey’s
North Orange Avenue
2 Yay!
Ivanhoe Village
3 Good Crowd
College Park
Pool Builder
1 Premier Pools of Central Florida
Winter Park
2 Paradise Pools By Design
Altamonte Springs
3 Signature Pools
Orlando
Bookstore
1 Writer’s Block
Winter Park, Winter Garden
2 BrightLight Books
Fern Park, Oviedo
3 Spiral Circle
Thornton Avenue, Orlando
spiralcircle.com
Consignment or Resale Shop
1 Chic Boutique
Corrine Drive
2 Out of the Closet Thrift Stores
Mills Avenue
3 Dechoes Resale
College Park, East Colonial Drive
Home Décor
1 Ted Maines Interiors
Winter Park
2 Adjectives Market
Four Orlando-area locations
3 The House on Lang
Orlando
Place for Antiques
1 Adjectives Market
Four Orlando-area locations
2 Atomic Junkies
Winter Park
Search Facebook.com for Atomic Junkies
3 Renninger’s Twin Markets
Mount Dora
Premier Pools of Central Florida. COURTESY PREMIER POOLS OF CENTRAL FLORIDA
Kitchen & Bath
1 Artisan Kitchen & Bath Gallery
Winter Park
2 KBF Design Gallery
Maitland
3 Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery
Orlando
Home Builder
1 Phil Kean Design Group
Winter Park
2 Charles Clayton Construction
Winter Park
3 Rey Homes
Orlando
Mall
1 The Mall at Millenia
Conroy Road
2 The Florida Mall
South Orange Blossom Trail
3 Altamonte Mall
Altamonte Springs
Women’s Clothing
1 Jarboe
Ivanhoe Village
2 Lauren Nicole
Three Orlando-area locations
ROBERTO GONZALEZ
Florist
In Bloom Florist
Flowers With A Mission
People and their stories inspire John and Sally Kobylinski, owners of In Bloom Florist, with locations in downtown Orlando and Lake Mary. Their own love story was written on the backdrop of a flower shop. “It’s important for us to do whatever we can through flowers to love people,” Sally says. That begins with their staff, whom the couple consider family. “We truly love and appreciate our customers, but we couldn’t care for our customers the way we want to without trying to fully engage with our In Bloom family,” she adds. During the 2008 recession, Sally found an employee sleeping in his car, which, she says, brought a shift to her vision. “We’ve always been about customers and serving and saying yes, sometimes to our detriment. But in that moment, it became so much more than that.” The couple is quick to support community members, such as the family of 17-month-old Adalyn Zisa, killed during a family bike ride in 2019. “When we heard about it, we ended up donating 12 pieces to ensure that the mama felt her daughter’s presence.” The donation represents their mission to “love people however we can through flowers.” —Cheri Henderson
3 Macy’s
Multiple Orlando-area locations
Men’s Clothing
1 John Craig
Winter Park
2 Express
The Mall at Millenia, The Florida Mall
3 Neiman Marcus
The Mall at Millenia
Bicycle Shop
1 D2 Cycling Center
Sanford
facebook.com/D2EnduranceSports
2 Orange Cycle
College Park
3 Kyle’s Bike Shop
Milk District
Car Dealership
1 Tesla Orlando
North Orlando-Eatonville
2 Fields BMW
Orlando, Winter Park
3 Mercedes-Benz of South Orlando
Millenia Boulevard
Almut Belote Jewelry. COURTESY ALMUT BELOTE JEWELRY
Jeweler
1 Almut Belote Jewelry
Downtown Orlando
2 Bay Hill Jewelers
Orlando, Winter Park
3 UNOde50
Disney Springs
Interior Designer
1 Ted Maines Interiors
Winter Park
2 Phil Kean Design Group
Winter Park
3 KBF Design Gallery
Maitland
IT Services
1 Smart Guys Computers
Sanford
2 StarterStudio
Downtown Orlando
3 Kapp Communications
Maitland, Lake Mary
