US: Retailers react to hurricane Matthew close calls
“We boarded up, but house and shop are fine,” he said. “Floodwater was up to the front and back porches; it seemed [at one point like in 15 minutes, I’d have a foot of water in garage, but then the water started receding.”
Nonetheless, the shop suffered a major financial hit, to the tune of about $20,000 for work that had been booked for six weddings over the storm weekend.
At Kissimmee Florist in Kissimmee, Florida, Danny Sexton said his shop “lucked out.” The day of potential impact, “the storm’s eye wobbled about 12 miles east, and we were spared big time.”
Unfortunately, nearby Pearson and Palatka — the state’s “fern area” — got hit hard, he added.
The week before the storm, Chaim Casper of Surf Florist in Miami Beach, Aventura and Surfside, was busy prepping flowers for Rosh Hashannah, which is usually a very busy time for the shop. The business was closed October 3-4 for the holiday, and when they reopened on Wednesday, October 5, customers already were focused on the coming storm.
“Business was dead,” Casper said.
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