Rebuilding Business on Fort Myers Beach

COMES TO CHILD SAFETY AND OUR COVERAGE ON THIS STORY. >> YOU CAN VISIT WGCU DOT ORG. AS WE PUSH FARTHER INTO THE ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON, WE STILL FEEL THE ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF EM AS WE APPROACH THE 4TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE STORM HITTING SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. IN FORT MYERS BEACH. IT'S BEEN A PROCESS THAT INCLUDES RESTORING TIMES SQUARE, MAKING PLANS TO REBUILD THE PIER AND ALSO THE RETURN OF SOME BUSINESSES WHILE BRINGING IN NEW ONES WGCU REPORTER YOUN JOO PARK TAKES US DOWN TO FORT MYERS BEACH TO LOOK AT HOW IT'S PROGRESSING DURING THE OFFSEASON. >> AT FORT MYERS BEACH. >> TOURISTS MAY FEEL LIKE EVERY HOUR OF THE DAY IS BECAUSE >> LIKE COMMODORE E CAME FROM LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK TO CELEBRATE HER SWEET 16TH BIRTHDAY WITH A FRIEND. >> THE BEACH, THE POOL, THE BANANA BOAT. >> ANGEL DOLPHIN AND HIS DAUGHTER ARRIVED FROM MISSISSIPPI TO VISIT FAMILY IN THE AREA. JULY IS TYPICALLY ONE OF THE SLOWER MONTHS AND FOR GOOD REASON HE HAS SOUGHT SIR. >> AND HUMID, VERY HUMID. >> FEWER TOURISTS MEANS THAT THE OWNER OF BEACH BOYS ISLAND WRITES CHRIS LEE AND FELT HER CAN RELAX AND HIS GOLF CART WHILE WAITING FOR CUSTOMERS. THEY WERE ODD SEASON NOW. SO IT'S IT'S CRAZY, BUSY DURING SEASON, BUT NOW ONE DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS, PEOPLE ARE STAYING HOME. >> YOU KNOW, WHEN THEIR STAYS ONE, IT'S WARM. OBVIOUSLY AND ARE PLANNING ON VACATIONS. WONDER WHETHER STARTS GETTING CALLS. TOURISM IS NOT ONLY THE LIFELINE. >> BUT ALSO THE BACKBONE OF THE COMMUNITY AS DESCRIBED BY JACK IN THE SACK PRESIDENT AND CEO OF THE FORT MYERS BEACH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE PUT A BOWLING BALL DOWN ESTERO BOULEVARD AND YOU CAN'T HIT ANYBODY SEASON. SO. >> QUIET BUSINESSES HAVE TO ACCOMMODATE NOT ONLY FINANCIALLY FOR THAT, MAKE THE MONEY IN THE GOOD TIMES AND PUT AWAY FOR, YOU KNOW, THE SUMMER AND FALL MONTHS BEAT. THE QUESTION IS. >> HOW DO BUSINESSES ADJUST THEIR OPERATIONS? >> TO ACCOUNT FOR SEASONAL FLUCTUATIONS IN THE NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS ARE NIA JAX AND STARTED WORKING AT THE SWEET LAKES ICE CREAM SHOP 7 MONTHS AGO. SHE SAYS THERE ARE LINES OUT THE DOOR WHEN SPRINGTIME BRINGS MANY TOURISTS TO FORT MYERS BEACH. SO MANY PEOPLE THAT COME HERE. >> THEY'RE PEOPLE THAT COME HERE FROM AUSTRALIA FROM SINGLE POOR ON. OBVIOUSLY A BUNCH OF PLACES HERE LIKE WE GET A LOT OF SNOWBIRDS FROM WHY UTAH ON MISSOURI AND STAFF. >> JACKSON SAYS BEING AT THE ICE CREAM SHOP BACK IN JANUARY. I WAS LIKE STEPPING INTO A DIFFERENT WORLD FROM HER HOMETOWN OF FORT MYERS JUST ACROSS THE BRIDGE WAS DEFINITELY AN ADJUSTMENT FOR HIS CAUSE. >> I GOT HIRED DURING PEAK BUSINESS SEASON. SO WHY WAS CHENEY AND SO LIKE THAT? I WAS SEEING ALL THE BUSY LINES. I SAW THE PEOPLE AND THEN TOWARDS THE END OF MAY OR THE END OF APRIL, BEGINNING OF MAY DOESN'T START TO SLOW DOWN A LOT ARE HOURS CHANGED. A LOT OF THING THAT NEEDED CHANGE FOR US. WE DO DO COFFEE OR RECORDS OR LINES CURRENTLY BECAUSE WE'RE IN THE SLOW SEASON. ANOTHER ICE CREAM SHOP IS THE NATIONAL CHAIN COLD STONE CREAMERY. >> WHICH CAN BE MISSED WHEN YOU DRIVE OVER THE BRIDGE INTO FORT MYERS BEACH. >> THERE WERE NO CUSTOMERS ON THIS HOT JULY MIDDAY. SO EMPLOYEES TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THE DOWN TIME BY MAKING WAFFLE CONE. COLD STONE OWNER ME TO CHILL TANI SAYS THAT DURING THE PEAK OF TOURIST SEASON, HE STRATEGICALLY PLACES HIS MOST EXPERIENCED EMPLOYEES TEMPORARILY AT THE FORT MYERS BEACH SITE TO ACCOMMODATE THE INFLUX OF CUSTOMERS IN THIS COUNT, THE BE ON A 8 STORES. >> SO BASICALLY WE ALWAYS HAVE EMPLOYEES WHO CAN PULL FROM ONE STORE TO ANOTHER STORE. >> GIVEN THAT COLD STONE CREAMERY IS A CHAIN FRANCHISE. SO TONY HAS ENOUGH LOCATIONS SO THAT HE CAN DISTRIBUTE WORKERS TO VARIOUS SITES THROUGHOUT SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, DEPENDING ON NEED IN FORT MYERS BEACH, MOST FOOD INDUSTRY BUSINESSES ARE PRIVATELY OWNED MOM AND POP STORES. HOWEVER, A SECOND CHAIN FRANCHISE FOOD JOINT C'EST OPENED UP THIS PAST WEEK. WHEN CONSIDERING A NEW RESTAURANT LOCATION FOR JERSEY MIKE'S SUB SHOP. TRACEY GROW. LINDAHL SAYS IT WAS A NO-BRAINER TO CHOOSE FORT MYERS BEACH. I'M VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE EBBS AND FLOWS OF THE TRANS YET CLIENTELE. THAT COULD HAPPEN. >> THAT DOES NOT AT ALL SCARE US OR PROHIBIT US FROM OPENING HERE. >> IN FACT. >> SHE SAYS HER INSIGHT OR KNOWLEDGE LET HER TO SELECT JULY. >> AS THE OPENING MONTH SO THAT HER STAFF CAN EASE INTO WORKING AT A UNIQUE LOCATIONS, SUCH AS FORT MYERS BEACH, WHO'S READ THEM AS SET BY THE TOURISM SEASON RATHER THAN OPENING IN OCTOBER. WHEN WE KNOW WE'RE GOING TO BE BUSY. >> IT'S BEST TO OPEN NOW. SO WE GET SNOW. THE PEOPLE AROUND US SO WE CAN FEEL SUPPORTED AND WE CAN SUPPORT THEM. ACCORDING TO THE ZACH OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. >> TOURISM IN FORT MYERS BEACH IS FINALLY REBOUNDING. >> AFTER COVID-19 AND DEVASTATION FROM STORMS. AND OF COURSE, WE HAD SEPTEMBER OF 2022. AND HURRICANE IAN HIT. >> AND YOU CAN SEE HOW WE'VE STRUGGLED. WE HAD NO BUILDINGS. >> SHE SAYS THE OPENING OF THIS NEW CHAIN FRANCHISE DEMONSTRATES THE RESILIENCE OF