Showing its AGE; Are the demographics of Charlotte County changing? Take a look at businesses.(BUSINESS WEEKLY)

Byline: LAUREN MAYK lauren.mayk@heraldtribune.com

PORT CHARLOTTE -- On a recent Tuesday night, more than 500 people shoehorned themselves into an old Kentucky Fried Chicken building and celebrated Charlotte County's coming of age.

More specifically, they raised their plastic cups to celebrate the opening of a new Hooters restaurant in Port Charlotte.

But the VIP party might as well have been a debutante ball for the country's oldest county, considering the way folks viewed the arrival of the restaurant chain famous for its hot wings and busty waitresses.

"Port Charlotte's starting to catch up," said Steven Larkin, 34, of Larkin Builders, as he chatted with childhood friends on the Hooters porch during the party.

To many of the residents, officials and business owners who packed the orange-canopied restaurant on U.S. 41, Hooters was a tacky but welcome sign of change.

"Whenever a big chain like that comes in, it means we're ... on a map. We're on a radar screen," said Julie Mathis, executive director of the Charlotte County Chamber of Commerce.

For the 10 years Mike Cannington has worked for South Florida Hooters parent company LTP Management, the volume of calls inquiring whether Hooters was coming to Port Charlotte has gradually increased. Until recently, callers were always disappointed.

"Two or three years ago, Port Charlotte didn't even factor into the equation of where we would open up," said Cannington, marketing director for the region.

So what happened?

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