The devastating 2024 hurricane season has had a lingering impact.
Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce president Terri Kinder told The Islander Sept. 26 that the month of September is historically a slow one for local businesses, but might be even slower this year due to the destruction wrought by hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024.
A couple of local business owners can attest to that.
Bob Slicker, owner of Slicker’s Eatery, 12012 Cortez Road. W., Cortez, told The Islander Sept. 26 that a chair sponsorship program and the community’s support were foremost in keeping his business alive.
The eatery took on 3.5 feet of water in Helene’s storm surge and lost its air conditioning units to Milton.
While the restaurant was closed for repairs, Slicker and the Rotary Club of Anna Maria Island — of which he is a member — focused on supporting the local community.
They donated 97 bicycles and two cars, as well as raised more than $107,000 to fund vouchers for Cortez residents to buy new appliances to replace those lost in the storms.
Slicker and his team also provided free food to locals from a tent outside the restaurant, while it remained closed. Last Thanksgiving, he gave away 368 meals made up of donated turkeys from the Rotary and other food donated by friends and family.
Slicker’s Eatery reopened in February, but so far, it hasn’t been smooth sailing.
Slicker said this summer was “one of the slowest (he’s) ever seen” since he began doing business in the area in 1986.
He attributed the lack of business to the local community’s continuing recovery from last year’s storms, as well as tourists’ hesitation to visit the area during hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.
Altogether, business is down about 60% from last year, according to Slicker.
Between exhaustive recovery efforts, a struggling business and his own medical issues, Slicker said the past year has been the most stressful of his life.
Nevertheless, he credited and thanked the local community for helping to keep his business alive through a chair sponsorship program in which people pay $500 to put their name, a business name, a favorite saying, or “any nice thing” on the back of a chair in the eatery.
“That’s the reason we’re still open right now,” Slicker said. “I’m so grateful for my community. … We are surrounded by great people.”
In the meantime, he remains hopeful that the end of storm season will bring some business to the restaurant.
On the other hand, the slow summer has been a death sentence for the Cheesecake Cutie & Cafe, 3324 E. Bay Drive, Holmes Beach.
Cheesecake Cutie was largely unscathed by last year’s storms, as the Benderson strip mall where it is located was spared from the brunt of their impacts.
However, that does not exclude the cafe from the storms’ indirect effects, such as the dampened business over the year since they hit.
Owner Jennifer Geils told The Islander Sept. 26 that business was down about 50% from last year and, consequently, she has set early December for closure.
Geils said the cafe’s lease is set to expire Dec. 31 and she did not plan to renew it due to rising costs and a lack of foot traffic in the plaza.
She said her business was trending up until last year’s storms, but the lack of patrons — especially tourists — since the hurricanes has left it struggling.
“It just has not picked up,” Geils said. “We didn’t have a season. We weren’t busy like we normally were over the past four years from March to July. … I know everyone has seen the difference between this year and last year.”
She said the business has impacted her personal life, so she was looking forward to closing the cafe and moving to Alabama, where she plans to spend more time with her husband and family.
“It just was time to be quite honest,” Geils said. “I think we just need a change in our overall lives. … We’re going to take some time for our family and just get ourselves back on track and connected.”
She added that she plans to continue selling her line of coffee, but it might go under a different name following the dissolution of Cheesecake Cutie.
