Owning and operating a business can be difficult. Keeping one in the family is even harder, and running one for multiple generations is an achievement to be admired. Having celebrated its 100th anniversary on Jan 11, 2023, Stone Funeral Home remains one of Cocoa’s most enduring legacies, a pillar of the community for decades. Stone Funeral Home was started by the late Richard E. Stone back in 1923 as the only funeral home between Jacksonville and Miami that served the African-American community at the time. Mr. Stone selected Cocoa as the location for his business because he felt it was the center of Brevard County and he would better be able to serve both the north and south ends of the county. Located originally along what once was Magnolia Street and then renamed after Richard Stone, the funeral home was then moved in 1937 to its present-day location at 516 King Street and continues to provide personalized, intimate funeral services for Cocoa and its surrounding communities.  The Stone Funeral Home is still very much a family-run business that has provided crucial funeral services and acts as a unifier for the community. Today, the Stone Funeral Home is run by Jan Stone, daughter-in-law of Richard, and their devoted staff. While providing all of the necessary services of any funeral home (everything from caskets, monuments, wakes/viewings, to the cemetery coordination and notary services), the staff at the Stone Funeral Home are also active and skilled cremators. Stone Funeral Home will be celebrating its 100 years of service to the Cocoa and Melbourne communities this December with a special gala. They can be reached at (321) 6362344, and have more details concerning their services and funeral planning advice on their website, stonefuneralhomes.com.

Keeping an old craft alive and revitalizing it for the modern day, the Toy Box is both storefront and workshop for its owner Cheronda Scott as she works diligently on her doll house miniatures and their oodles of accessories. The Toy Box is found right in the heart of Cocoa Village at 419 Brevard Ave., providing a unique destination and attraction for residents, hobbyists, and tourists alike. 

Cheronda has been making miniatures for 25 years. She purchased the location and name of the historic Toy Box store, spurred by the passion for her craft. “Miniatures can be a way to tell a story, preserve memories and spend time with loved ones,” said Scott. For the last year at the Toy Box, Cheronda has provided a space to showcase her current projects and sell all the unique accoutrements for miniature decorators: miniature food, furniture, clothing, and more, most of which she makes by hand.

As one of only two doll house miniature stores in Florida, Cheronda is working to create a nexus for miniature collectors and hobbyists from across the state, creating a place not only to purchase these supplies, but providing a place for them to meet and gather. Cheronda explained, “since owning the Toy Box, I see more of the sentiment behind the craft now and my passion for it has grown. I am motivated to continue this business because creativity is an outlet. A healthy one. It also brings people together and is entertaining to watch.”

Cheronda is the recipient of one of Cocoa’s recent Upstart Cocoa Small Business Forgivable Loan awards and has recently begun the IGNITE 360® Business Mentoring Program, a regimen and opportunity funded as part of the forgivable loan program. Cheronda seeks to use the forgivable loan to expand her production capabilities and create more opportunities to reach the community, being especially interested in pioneering a program for children who would thrive off the creative enrichment that doll house miniatures provide.

The Toy Box is open 10AM to 4 PM, Wednesday through Sunday. While also operating the Toy Box physically in Cocoa Village, Cheronda also maintains a digital storefront on Etsy.

Marketing is an integral part of ensuring the success of any business. However, it’s time-consuming, and frequently out of reach for many small businesses, especially if you’re not familiar with marketing. inetUSA helps market your business so you can focus on running it. 

For 21 years, inetUSA has been hard at work in Brevard County and throughout Cocoa, initially developing software for the Kennedy Space Center. Since then, they’ve changed with the times, expanding services to include web development, marketing, and printing. They can provide a variety of services for the marketing needs of small and medium businesses including website development, direct mail, brochures, full color printing, signs, banners, magnets and more!

inetUSA gives local Cocoa and Space Coast businesses the chance to grow and access more markets with the advancement of the digital marketplace, having networks and connections to call on is more critical to being successful.

As they settled into their niche, inetUSA has grown rapidly, having moved and upgraded their workspace a number of times before settling into their current offices and workshop at 937 Dixon Blvd. Here, inetUSA is easily accessible and very engaged with our local community, as well as serving as a very attractive headquarters for their teams that operate remotely around the country.

You can view more details about inetUSA on their website, where you can also request a quote. You can also reach out to their customer support team at (321) 503-0000.