‘We’re still your Tampa neighbor’: Tampa Bay Times shutters downtown office
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The Tampa Bay Times has moved out of its longtime office building in downtown Tampa, opting for a smaller location near Tampa’s airport.
The Times will now operate two office spaces — one in St. Petersburg and a new space in Tampa.
Tampa Bay Times Chairman and CEO Conan Gallaty said in an op-ed that the decision to move locations stemmed from post-pandemic changes in employee behaviors and the changing economic landscape of the news industry over the past few decades for the need to relocate.
“The pandemic taught us how to work differently,” Gallaty said. “Times Publishing Co. embraces hybrid work and opportunities for our employees to avoid the transportation woes our region faces.”
The closure of its downtown Tampa location is one of many changes the Times has made to business practices over the past decade to adapt to modern news consumers.
The Times has moved to online marketing strategies to target new subscribers instead of traditional ways like billboards. They have also pulled hundreds of copies of their paper off the streets, moved to alternate-day paper deliveries, and shuttered their longtime printing plant in St. Petersburg for the more economical Lakeland.
In his op-ed, Gallaty maintains that these changes are mere business decisions and that the quality of The Tampa Bay Times will not change.
“While much has changed, we are still here,” Gallaty said. “We have about 100 journalists throughout the region focused on relaying important news and information to our readers every day. “
‘We’re still your Tampa neighbor’: Tampa Bay Times shutters downtown office
The Tampa Bay Times has moved out of its longtime office building in downtown Tampa, opting for a smaller location near Tampa’s airport.
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