Four retailers on Anna Maria Island have made an impressive list for their styles and products in very different areas.

Sarasota Magazine released its Best of Sarasota Top 100 Luxury Retailers list for 2012 recently. Author Carol Tisch chose clothiers Irene’s Resort Wear and Pink & Navy, and home interior design specialists Bella by the Sea and the White Egret for the list.

Tisch called Irene’s Resort Wear, 5308 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach, “an oasis of big-city style on laid back Anna Maria Island.” She said the store might be the “most competitively priced fashion house in the region.” She said the store’s diverse clientele come for “impeccable service and a cutting-edge cache of dresses.”

“My staff and I are very proud, honored an humbled at the same time,” said owner Nannette Almeter, who added this is the third year in a row for her store in the annual listing.

The next two retailers are located on Pine Avenue, in Anna Maria.

Tisch praised Pink & Navy, 216C Pine Ave., for its young styles.

“Rivaling the beach boutiques lining the harbor of St. Bart’s, Pink & Navy is a fashion oasis on Anna Maria Island,” she wrote.

Pink & Navy owner Janae Rudacille said it was an awesome honor and she was totally blown away, especially in light of the fact that she has been in business less than two years.

“I’m shocked at how well we are doing,” she said.” I wasn’t sure it would be accepted.”

Rudacille said she gets asked almost every day if this is part of a chain because they want to shop in a Pink & Navy in their hometowns. She said she is getting customers from Tampa and Sarasota on a frequent basis.

Tisch praised the diversity of the items for sale at Bella by the Sea, 218C Pine Ave.

“Retail therapy is epitomized in this inimitable emporium,” she wrote. Praising their “irresistible blend of repurposed furniture (from old factories, barns and commercial buildings), coastal lifestyle clothes, irresistible handbags crystallized with zip codes and fun jewelry.”

Owner Jo-Ann Lefner said she was thrilled by the honor.

“I am totally blown away, especially since we’ve been open less than two years,” she said.

Referring to Tisch’s description of the variety of items in her store, she said people are starting to notice the variety of items available from all the stores in Anna Maria’s retail district.

“It’s certainly a brand for Pine Avenue,” she said.

Like Irene’s Resort Wear, the White Egret has been named in the luxury retailer list three years in a row.

Tisch wrote “Coastal elegance reigns at the White Egret.” She praised the luxury brands available and the wide variety of items to make a beach house feel that way. She mentioned their sister store next door, Egret’s Nest, and Egret’s Landing in Holmes Beach for furnishings.

“This is a dream come true,” said manager Sue Hallenbeck. “You work so hard to get noticed and this is proof you have been.”

She said they are always buying for an upcoming season and they have a lot of customers who come back to see what’s new.

“They say it just gets better and better,” Hallenbeck said.

According to the list, the only other store from Manatee County honored is located in Lakewood Ranch.

I get a bit nervous when an investment theme becomes too popular, and lately, there has been no shortage of advice touting dividend paying equities as a great idea. However, since this advise is not being rendered with a get rich quick tone, I think it is worth examining the concept of using equities as an income source.

The concept is not new. For the better part of the 20th century, until about 1958, stocks in general paid dividend yields that were higher than the yield on government bonds. For the next 50 years, investing in stocks became more of a growth theme and less focus was placed on dividends by both investors and the companies themselves. For much of the last four years, we have again observed the general yield on stocks, presently about 2.2 percent for the S&P 500 Index, compare favorably with the 10-year treasury bond yield of around 1.7 percent.

But, the analysis of the current yield relationship is hardly the whole story as there are other important factors for investors to consider when investing their capital. So, we will examine the risks and rewards of using equity investments as an income source in the remainder of this article and continue the analysis in part II, which will appear in two weeks, on Sept. 19.

It is obvious to most that equities carry more risk to the owner than a government bond. Businesses sometimes go out of business, and in the case of bankruptcy, equity investors usually incur a total loss of the capital invested. The risk of loss of this type can be minimized by owning a diversified portfolio of companies where any one position is just a small portion of your portfolio. Also, owning larger, higher quality companies can minimize, but not eliminate, the risk of a bankruptcy occurring in your portfolio.

Government bonds carry the guarantee of the issuing government and in the case of the United States, are considered the safest securities in the world for guarding against a default, which would result in the investor receiving less than face value when the bond matures.

But, that doesn’t mean that investing in high quality bonds doesn’t carry other risks. Bonds fluctuate in value as the prevailing level of interest rates moves up and down. Over the last 30 years, the direction of rates has been lower, from the very high levels of the early 1980’s to today’s ultra-low rate environment.

This decline in yields has been like a strong wind in the sails of bond investors, providing way above average performance. But,this trend is not likely to repeat itself in the next 30 years from the current low levels. More importantly, if rates reverse course and begin to rise at some point in the future, bond investors could, at least temporarily, see principal value losses, which are much greater than the income they are receiving on their 10-year treasury bonds presently paying only 1.7 percent.

So, while bonds are an important part of a diversified portfolio, the time may be right to examine equities as income vehicles. In the next segment of this series we will compare the yields presently available on equities to bonds and also examine some other factors that make equities attractive for a long-term income portfolio.

Tom Breiter is president of Breiter Capital Management, Inc., an Anna Maria based investment advisor. He can be reached at 778-1900. Some of the investment concepts highlighted in this column may carry the risk of loss of principal, and investors should determine appropriateness for their personal situation before investing. Visit www.breitercapital.com.