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Lauren Gonzmart Schellman / 5th Generation Family Member
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Lauren is the great-great-granddaughter of Casimiro Hernandez Sr., founder of the Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City in 1905. Her grandparents were Cesar and Adela Gonzmart, and her parents are Richard & Melanie Gonzmart. Her father Richard is the President of Columbia Restaurant. Lauren represents the fifth generation of the Hernandez-Gonzmart family. She is a 4th generation native Floridian and was born in Tampa. The Columbia was founded in 1905 and is the oldest restaurant in Florida, and the largest Spanish restaurant in the world.
She is currently on the Board of Directors for the Tampa Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Centre for Women in Tampa. Lauren does volunteer work for several groups and charities in the Tampa Bay area. She recently served on the development council for St. Peter Clavier Catholic school.
She began her career at the Columbia Restaurant at the age of ten, by doing filing in the corporate office. By the time she was twelve, she was working as a hostess at the Ybor City restaurant and continued working there through high school.
She took some time off from working in the restaurant when she moved to Virginia to attend college. She later transferred to the University of South Florida in Tampa, and graduated from USF with a degree in Interdisciplinary Social Science.
Lauren then returned to Columbia Restaurant Group, working at the Sand Key location as a manager. She was part of the opening team of the Columbia in Central Florida’s town of Celebration in 1997. While in Celebration, she assisted in the hiring of new staff and the training of the new employees.
After several months, she returned to Tampa and was promoted to the position of Director of Retail and Merchandising. She was later appointed a Vice President of the company.
Lauren was responsible for the launch of the retail sales division for the Columbia Restaurant Group in 1997. For over a century, customers of the Columbia Restaurant have enjoyed savory Spanish dishes that could only be found on the Columbia''s menu. Now, many of those favorites like the World Famous “1905” Salad dressing, salsa picante sauce, seasoning, Sangria, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, olives and freshly roasted Cuban coffee are produced under Columbia Restaurant’s own private label brand. The items are sold in Columbia Restaurant’s gift shops.
Lauren was also in charge of the launch of the first gift shop in Ybor City, adjacent to the original Columbia Restaurant. She then oversaw the launch of six more gift shops for Columbia Restaurant in Sarasota, St. Augustine, St. Petersburg, Sand Key, Celebration, and the Columbia Cafe at the Tampa Bay History Center. She is currently responsible for managing the operations of the gift shops. She handles all of the buying for the stores, with annual trips to Spain to purchase hand-painted ceramics and gifts. She also plans the mix of food products, gift items and cigars, and the merchandising of these products in all of the gift shops.
Lauren has fond memories of growing up - spending many happy times in the restaurant or the kitchen with her family. Some of her fondest memories include her parents taking her and her younger sister, Andrea, to see her grandfather, Cesar Gonzmart playing the violin at the Columbia. The girls were allowed to stay up past their bedtime for the show, and often fell asleep on a makeshift bed comprised of three chairs pushed together, with a tablecloth for a blanket.
Lauren is married to Chris Schellman, and they have four children; twins Michael and Isabella, Maximilian and Alexander. Their children are members of the sixth generation of the Hernandez Gonzmart family.
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