SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A popular market in Sarasota will reopen one year after it sustained damage from Hurricane Ian.
For residents in Sarasota and Manatee counties, Detwiler’s Farm Market is a popular family-owned grocery chain. There are five stores in the area from Palmetto to Venice.
Mike Stumpe said he’s been shopping at Detwiler’s Farm Market for about five years now.
“I come for the fresh produce, the meat and I like that it is local, it is fresh and a lot of the suppliers are local,” Stumpe said.
However, for the last year, Stumpe couldn’t go to his favorite location on Palmer Boulevard. The store had to be shut down are suffering extensive damage from Hurricane Ian.
Photos shared with 8 On Your Side show some of the damage. The wind peeled the roof onto the ground, and inside the store, there was extensive water damage.
Henry Detwiler Sr. said out their five local stores, the Palmer Boulevard location was the only one that did not lose power during Hurricane Ian.
“We had all of the compressors and stuff that was up there, they all got rolled off with the roof, but they were running,” he said. “It was like a miracle. We came in here and I just started saying we are going to rebuild, and that is what we did.”
One year later, the flagship store has transformed. Employees spent the day Wednesday stocking up shelves, getting ready for the reopening later this week.
“I didn’t think it was going to be a year to be honest, but we are here,” Detwiler said.
The store will feature the same produce, dairy, meat, and seafood as before, but customers can expect some new additions. The layout of the store is also different than before.
“Me, my wife, and some of my girls we are going to be making donuts Friday and I think Saturday we are going to have free hotdogs, but please don’t everyone come at once, because we are very small here,” Detwiler said while laughing.
The store will re-open Friday at 8 a.m.