A downtown retail mainstay since 2004, Distinctive Kitchens has closed. The doors have been locked for weeks. A “Closed for Inventory” sign has been on the front door throughout the holiday shopping season.
Owner Robin Martin gambled on downtown Pensacola taking his business Pensacola Appliance, that was primarily wholesale, and created a huge retail space on Palafox.
In the spring of 2005, when our temporary offices were flooded and while our new downtown office wasn’t ready, Robin let us use his backroom to layout and publish our newspaper. We did that for six weeks–using cellphones as our office phone and sharing his internet connection.
I hate to see the store close. Robin was one of the early supporters of Gallery Nights and the first to offer cooking classes using an innovative demonstration kitchen set-up. He and Distinctive Kitchens will be missed