Gulf Coast Kayak, a decades-old business from Matlacha is back and fully operating after being hit by Hurricane Ian more than 2 years ago.
"We've had to adjust our business model,” said Bryan Stockbridge, Gulf Coast Kayak owner.
Cape Coral Community Correspondent Bella Line explains why it took time to find a new spot:
Stockbridge tells Fox 4’s Bella Line that the journey hasn't been easy.
"We were barely hanging on. We were actually operating the business at a loss for that first year,” said Stockbridge.
Stockbridge says having lived through Hurricane Ian, and coming back to Matlacha to see his business’ roof torn off and equipment destroyed, was the beginning of the long road to recovery.
Stockbridge says the first year after Ian, his business was down 85% in revenue.
"It's been a slower process than I would have thought two and a half years ago, but after going through it and seeing the destruction, I completely understand it's not going to be a quick process,” said Stockbridge.
Living in paradise, Stockbridge says many business owners rely on visitors.
"I think we're all in the same boat here. Most industries here in Southwest Florida, to one degree or another, do rely on tourism dollars,” said Stockbridge. "I can say, from our personal experience, we are certainly not back to where we were before the hurricane, but we are a lot better now than we were a year ago, so we are seeing progress.”
For now, Stockbridge says they are operating at Sirenia Vista Park as the official outfitter for Cape Coral, but he hopes to be able to expand back to Matlacha one day.
"We spent 12 years in Matlacha, that was home to us,” said Stockbridge.
