Shoot Straight buys store for first Clearwater location

BUYER: Shoot Straight of Clearwater Holding Co. (principal: Khaled Akkawi), Apopka

SELLER: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as receiver for Old Harbor Bank

PROPERTY: 12000 U.S. 19 N., Pinellas Park

PRICE: $1.25 million

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Norton Hammersley Lopez & Skokos PA, Sarasota

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Firearms retailer Shoot Straight purchased the former Knight Shooting Sports 16,116-square-foot building for $1.25 million.

The price equated to $78 per square foot.

After a major renovation, the retailer hopes to reopen the building as a Shoot Straight store in March.

“The building was a good size, but it wasn't configured in the best way for what we do,” says Khaled Akkawi, president of Apopka-based Shoot Straight. “The store is office heavy and showroom light, which is fine for a law firm, but we're a retail business. [Clearwater] is one of the few major metropolitan areas in Florida where we didn't have a store.”

Akkawi says the firm has budgeted between $800,000 and $900,000 for the renovations.

The gun retailer has stores in Apopka, Casselberry, Lakeland, Fort Myers, Tampa and West Palm Beach.

The purchase entity Shoot Straight of Clearwater Holding Co. mortgaged the property to Florida Bank of Commerce for $1.54 million.