After eight month closure from hurricane damage, longtime Holmes Beach shop reopens
HOLMES BEACH, Fla. (WFLA) — Sun and Surf Beach Shop has been a part of Holmes Beach for more than 40 years. The family-owned business first opened in 1983. Over the years, it's become a staple for visitors on the island to shop or visit with the birds out front.
However, for the last eight months, the storefront was quiet, and the birds were not on the island. The beach shop was forced to close after four feet of storm surge from Hurricane Helene destroyed the inside of the business and much of their inventory.
The store reopened to the public on May 1.
'I can't even really go back and envision how we managed to do this, but it was just a lot of hard work, sweat, prayers, tears, tears, and a lot of good people to come and help,' said owner Jennifer Moore.
Moore said the 4500-square-foot building had to be gutted and rebuilt. During that time, the beloved birds stayed at Birds of Paradise in Manatee County.
'We are still not 100%, but it is getting there more and more each day, but we are just so happy to be back open and having our customers back again and just having our life back to normal,' said Moore. 'It was just so magical to be back open and just to realize that we conquered it and we could do it again and the journey and all the amazing people that helped me get there. I will be forever thankful.'
Going into this upcoming hurricane season, the shop owner feels prepared and plans to take it one day at a time.
'We definitely have plenty of bins in storage to store things and put things higher. We have learned a lot from this journey, and we know what we can do in the future. We will just be more prepared and it could happen. You just never know how bad the storm is, you just have to prepare,' said Moore.
Several other businesses in the Island Shopping Center plaza were also forced to close down and rebuild over the last several months. Almost all have reopened.
On June 6 from 4-8 p.m., there will be a grand reopening at the plaza along Marina Drive to celebrate the businesses being back up and running.
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