Old name gets refreshed

Even after nearly four decades with one corporate name, it's never too late to go different and new.

That's the strategy prominent hotel industry veteran Tony Lapi has taken with the firm he co-founded in 1976 that now operates four resorts on Sanibel and Captiva islands. The holding company had been named Rochester Resorts, a nod to the Central New York hometown of Lapi and a co-founder, since day one. Back then it owned one property and had three employees. But with the recent acquisition of West Wind Inn on Sanibel Island, the company now has 255 employees and continues to grow.

So Lapi says he and his partners decided it was time to change names and rebrand. The new name is Sanibel Captiva Beach Resorts. “For years and years no one knew what Rochester Resorts was,” Lapi tells Coffee Talk. “We wanted something where people could identify who we are.”