PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — It's not just residents who are recovering from Hurricanes Milton and Helene, local business owners are also fighting to make a comeback.
Many in St. Pete sustained damage from the storms and are now experiencing an unprecedented slow season for shoppers.
"We really have a lot of inventory and it just got soaked, and also just dirty from the soot from the roof," said Eniko Olah, who owns Sans Market.
Sans Market is a store that focuses on zero waste products.
Olah never imagined how much damage there would be from Hurricane Milton.
"Hurricane Milton unfortunately took off the top layer of our roof and we basically had rain here in the store for two days," said Olah.
She said not only are local business owners struggling to recover, but so are their product suppliers.
"Because we support a lot of local makers, now a lot of our supply chains are also disrupted. Our coffee roaster also lost their roof. A lot of our bakers and different folks didn't have power," said Olah.
Other shops, like Wild Roots, are also having a hard time.
"We've also had a lot of cancelled events and things like that for people who [were] displaced and needed to cancel private events, or weddings, or baby showers or bridal showers," said Abby Chrysler, who works at the shop.
All this is happening as shops are coming off of an already difficult season for the business.
"Summer is always slow, but this is the slowest summer we've ever seen, so we were just getting ready coming into October for things to pick up," said Olah.
Since Hurricane Helene, Olah said customers haven't been walking through her doors.
Business owners understand it's a difficult time for many but hope that once residents get back up on their feet, the shops can start to recover too.
"It's hard to get back out there, and act like everything is normal because its not, but sometimes just grabbing a coffee, or some food or a plant from a small local business is really meaningful just to keep everyone going," said Olah.
Chrysler said shops are just trying to survive day by day.
"I think what makes St. Pete really special is the art scene here, the small business scene, the local community," said Chrysler.
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