Salty Pup Coffeehouse & Wine Bar is packing up its Gulfport nook for a 5,348-square-foot warehouse on 22nd Avenue South in St. Petersburg, where co-owners Jeff and Jody Musselman plan to open an expanded cafe with longer hours, a bigger beer and wine list, weekend brunch, and a connected vintage marketplace called Electric Flamingo. The pair are targeting a December opening at the new address, 4700 22nd Ave. S.
The move marks a major leap for a business that started small. As WhatNow reports, the new location will stay open until 5 p.m., a stretch from the Gulfport shop's tighter hours, while the coffeehouse grows its beer and wine list and adds weekend brunch to a menu that has long featured coffee, wine, breakfast and lunch.
From Trolley Square Pop-In to a Warehouse on a Busy Corridor
Salty Pup first opened in November 2024 at 5004 Tangerine Avenue South in Gulfport's Trolley Square, taking over a space once occupied by local bakery Mama Pearl's, per The Gabber Newspaper. Jeff and Jody Musselman launched the business after relocating back to Pinellas County from Atlanta, naming it in memory of Hampton, their 14-year-old labradoodle who died earlier that year. “We would call him our salty little dog, our salty pup,” Jody Musselman said, per WhatNow's reporting.
The Gulfport shop built its reputation as an LGBT-owned, dog-friendly gathering spot offering free Wi-Fi, community meeting space, and plant-based milk alternatives at no extra charge, the same Gabber report notes. In July 2025, the business expanded further, launching “Salty Pup After Hours” on Thursday through Saturday evenings to serve wine, desserts and small plates, a shift that prompted its rebrand to Salty Pup Coffeehouse & Wine Bar, according to the outlet's later coverage.
22nd Avenue South Brings Traffic and Growth
The new address puts Salty Pup along a commercial corridor that sees more than 17,000 vehicles daily and is drawing over 1 million square feet of commercial space along with hundreds of new residential units under construction nearby, per the same MC Homes Realty listing. That kind of traffic and development is a marked change from the shop's quieter Trolley Square footprint in Gulfport.
Jeff and Jody Musselman had discussed expanding to a bigger location with a market and gallery component even before the St. Petersburg site came together, according to WhatNow. The new building will house Electric Flamingo, a connected market and gallery space that Jody Musselman described as “a curated collection of about 29 dealers and artists under one roof,” with booths ranging from 9-by-7 to 5-by-2 feet.
Electric Flamingo Opens Its Doors to Vendors
Electric Flamingo will host vendors selling curated vintage clothing, furniture, home goods, records and jewelry, with applications managed through [email protected], according to LocalShops1. The market is still accepting vendor applications as it works toward a great selection of goods for customers ahead of the December opening.
The pairing fits a broader pattern taking shape across Pinellas County, where artisan coffee shops are increasingly linking up with multi-vendor vintage markets and creative maker spaces, LocalShops1 notes, pointing to similar hybrid concepts that have taken root in St. Petersburg's Grand Central and Warehouse Arts districts.
Community Ties Stay Rooted in Gulfport
Even with the move across municipal lines, Salty Pup's owners have kept close ties to the Gulfport community that first embraced them. In June, the Musselmans partnered with local grocery venture The Funky Flamingo to restock a free community food pantry in Gulfport aimed at easing neighborhood food insecurity, according to The Gabber Newspaper.
The pantry partnership underscores how much of Salty Pup's identity was built in that small beach town before the leap to a warehouse-sized home in St. Petersburg. Whether the expanded space and vintage marketplace can carry that same neighborhood feel remains to be seen once Electric Flamingo and the reimagined coffeehouse open their doors this December.
