The most important part of the update is that, while it was a close call, our store is dry!
If you've been to our Naples shop, you know we're located in Crayton Cove right off Naples Bay. You can see the City Dock, all the boats and the water out our store windows. On a normal day it's an idyllic location. Our shop is well above street level and had never flooded until 2022 and Hurricane Ian. That storm brought more water and flooding to Naples than any storm on record.
In September 2024 Hurricane Helene brought the second highest water level on record, missing flooding our store by about 6". Predictions for Hurricane Milton, making landfall in October 2024, were that the storm surge would be higher than Helene. We were worried!
We spent days moving out what merchandise we could. Raising up the merchandise couldn't be moved out. Filling sand bags and packing them in all our doorways. Then all we could do is wait.
The day after the storm we waited for the all clear from the city to venture down to our shop location. There was less debris than after Ian, which we took as a good sign. When we go to the shop it was obvious the water had topped the 6 steps up to our shop, but had it made it inside. This is the water line at the back door.
The water was about 1" up the door, but the sand bags, tarps and duct tape had done their job. The water didn't make it inside! We didn't have any power, but we were dry.
Now we begin the job of putting the shop back together. Since it's already October 10th and we've pulled everything out of the windows, might as well put up our Christmas items, right? We normally wait until after Halloween, but we're almost sold out of our fun Halloween items so we're going to embrace an early Christmas. 🎄
We hope you'll be embracing small businesses this holiday season. So many small businesses across the US have been effected by the summers storms. They need your support. And so do we!