Cape Coral businesses report recovery progress

Dec 1, 2022 By CJ HADDAD 7 min read

Hurricane Ian took a toll on local businesses in Cape Coral like no other weather event in Southwest Florida history. The city is home to more than 9,000 businesses, most of them being small and family/locally owned.

Storefronts were wiped out, windows broken, roofs torn, water damage about. It was a nightmare for owners. Those that have been fortunate enough to reopen are thankful to still be standing.

Some, unfortunately, have had to close for good.

A popular and somewhat new spot to find fresh produce and top-of-the-line meats and other foods is Farmer Joe’s on Pine Island Road. The large barn-like building reopened for the first time since Ian on Thursday, welcoming back customers with open arms.

“We’re overwhelmed to be back,” said Farmer Joe’s owner Lee Snyder. “Not just me, but all of our amazing employees and staff. We’re ready to rock and roll.”

Farmer Joe’s sustained significant damage due to the storm, and lost the majority of its inventory. Snyder said the roof was most damaged, as many electrical components and critical units were compromised.

“When we got up (on the roof), we were just blown away,” Snyder said.

There were 50 to 60 leaks coming from the roof, and the wind caused just a junkyard of debris.

The damage did not stop the Farmer Joe’s team from helping the community. The site, in partnership with Spokes of Hope, became a food distribution point that served over 5,500 Southwest Florida families by providing them with food and water. They also used their back warehouse to store recovery items such as generators.

“We donated what was salvageable,” Snyder said. “We sat out in the parking lot for about three weeks doing food distribution. It was great, the community was really happy. We had lines wrapped around the building. It was a way to keep our employees working, too. We’ve got the place cleaned up and buttoned up.”

Now, it’s all about getting back to some sense of normalcy and serving the residents. Farmer Joe’s is 55,000 square feet and known for a large produce section, which they source directly from local farms as much as possible. They also have a wide variety of specialty products, quality meat, seafood, prepared foods, and much more.

Snyder, who grew up in the Cape and is a graduate of Cape Coral High School, has always been involved in the world of produce. It began as a youth selling on the side of a Cape Coral road, evolving into farmers markets, and eventually, a brick-and-mortar business.

He knows that advantages of shopping with a locally-owned business. Farmer Joe’s held a “Trunk-or-Treat” event so kids didn’t have to navigate debris-ridden streets for Halloween. The took all the candy from their store and passed it out to thousands of children.

“Hurricane or not, it’s small, local business that drives the economy,” Snyder said. “There’s always going to be the competitors out there that are nation-wide, but the small mom-and-pop businesses are almost a dying breed in a sense. We would never bow down to that. We want to drive this economy and it’s so important to have community support. By giving back I think we’ll get that support back ten-fold.”

For more information, visit www.FarmerJoes.com.

Chamber of Commerce of Cape Coral President/ CEO Donna Germain said they started reaching out to businesses immediately following the storm to collect status reports thought their Businesses Emergency Coordination Center dashboard.

Germain said based on the response the Chamber received, they estimate that more than 95% of Cape businesses are up and running. She said they estimate the percentage of businesses that will have to permanently close following the storm to be less than 1.

The dashboard was created through a partnership between the Chamber of Commerce of Cape Coral and the Emergency Operations Center to have a centralized location to gather and distribute business information during an emergency activation.

As for what businesses are and have struggled with most, Germain said, “The biggest obstacle was the restoration of water, power and internet. Once they were able to assess the total damage to their businesses, the next big challenge was scheduling repairs and working with the insurance companies. While most businesses were able to work around their repairs and open up to the public, we do still have a few that are hoping to reopen in the coming days.”

Germain added, “Supporting our local businesses is so important, especially now. They need it more than ever to recoup some of the losses over the last few months. If you can get it here, buy it here. When you buy local, you are truly supporting your community. It’s easy to buy online and avoid the traffic, but taking that extra step to support a locally owned business will help the community grow.”

Another local business back up on its feet after Hurricane Ian is The Greek Spot on Cape Coral Parkway. Owners Tina and Paul Chalkias said their building sustained “extensive” flood and roof damage. The entire place was gutted out and everything had to be replaced from the floors, to the walls, to the ceilings.

“Further, we lost our entire inventory of food. That was heartbreaking,” Tina said.

The Greek Spot officially opened back up for business on Nov. 7 and experienced an overwhelming turnout.

“We’d like to thank the residents of Cape Coral for welcoming us back with such support,” Tina said. “Not only was it a record-day, but also an emotional day filled with tears of joy from seeing all of the familiar faces that we had missed so much. Thank you, Cape Coral, for giving us a sense of normalcy and overall feeling the everything will be ‘OK.'”

The Chalkias and their staff were on location every day after the storm making repairs and improvements. She said they would not be there without the support of Big John’s Plaza landlord and Cape pioneer, Elmer Tabor.

“I feel very confident in saying that if it wasn’t for Elmer Tabor, we would still not be open today,” Tina said. “He immediately lined everything up that was needed to start the recovery process from the demolition to the installation of new walls and roof.”

Tina said it is vital for residents to support small businesses in the city following such a devastating storm. Some businesses are still working to thrive after COVID, as well.

“The city of Cape Coral has so many local businesses that depend on local support,” she said. “We are so thankful that residents here have supported us throughout everything — be it COVID, Ian, massive price increases, shortages, recession. For all of us small business owners, this is our life and our livelihood, and we most definitely could not have done it without the support of our residents.”

The Greek Spot is at 1239 Cape Coral Parkway E. For more Information, visit www.greekspot239.com.

City of Cape Coral Economic and Business Development Officer, Sharon Woodberry, said the office is looking to work with the Cape’s small businesses to assist after the storm.

“We haven’t lost sight of going to assist our existing businesses and smaller, family-owned-type businesses,” Woodberry said. “This was difficult for them to have this type of hit. We have been very much involved in trying to make sure we connect resources (and) get information out to our businesses. We’ll be looking to schedule something with out businesses to get a feel for what would be helpful for them in terms of long-term recovery.”

-Connect with this reporter on Twitter: @haddad_cj

To reach CJ HADDAD, please email cjhaddad@breezenewspapers.com