SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. (SNN) — Thursday marks one year since Hurricane Ian ripped through the Suncoast.
Ian devastated businesses all throughout Sarasota, including Detwiler’s Farm Market’s original location on Palmer Boulevard.
The roof of the family-owned grocery store was ripped away, leaving extreme water damage.
Out of their five local stores, owner Henry Detwiler said the Palmer Boulevard location was the only one that did not lose power during Hurricane Ian.
The store is finally reopening on Friday.
Management said the repairs took longer than anticipated, but they’re so happy to be able to reopen and reveal the renovations to the community.
“We talked to each other… and we knew it was going to hit,” said Detwiler while holding back tears. “The whole roof peeled off, the water was coming down, so we just decided to totally redo. Get rid of the old flooring, the old walls, everything that was old and go new, so we did.”
One year later, the store had a complete transformation.
“Just come in, make sure it gets done. We want to get it as fresh as we can, we want to serve as many people as we can with the best prices we can, and we want it to be an exciting place to come,” said Detwiler.
Aside from rebuilding what was damaged, renovations also included some new features like an in-house bakery, a meat counter, and a freshly made subs and sandwich bar.
Family and staff members were busy stocking shelves on Wednesday, preparing for Friday’s grand opening.
“I love to be open, I love to have the shelves stocked and ready to sell,” said Detwiler.
The store will reopen Friday at 8 a.m.
