As soon as winds and rains subsided Monday afternoon, retailers across the Tampa Bay area sprang back into business. And they found plenty of storm-weary shoppers desperate to find ice, a hot meal, DVDs or just a place to cool off.
While major malls in the area remained shuttered, a number of large chains declared themselves open for business once the brunt of Hurricane Frances had passed. (Though Tyrone Square mall was closed Labor Day, both Dillard's and JCPenney were open.)
Ignoring official warnings to stay off debris-strewn roads, residents tried to salvage some shopping time on Labor Day, looking for necessities as well as diversion. One sign of the rapid return to normalcy: By midday, birthday parties were back in full swing at Chuck E. Cheese's in west St. Petersburg.
Across Tampa Bay on Tampa's S Howard Avenue, Starbucks was still dark, with soaked copies of the New York Times and local newspapers piled against the door. But a block away, Panera Bread was doing a brisk business, churning out bagels, pastries and sandwiches.
"We've been slammed all day," said Lisa Carryer, manager-trainee. "A lot of people around here lost their power. . . . They wanted to get out of the house and socialize."
Boredom sent Jackie White to the Port Richey Wal-Mart, which reopened at noon Monday. Packing shopping bags with milk, cereal, watermelon and potato chips in her minivan just as a downpour began, White, 22, said, "I just wanted to get out of the house. It was so boring without power."
Walgreen Co., which had about a quarter of its 620 Florida stores closed by the hurricane, was reopening stores Monday as weather permitted. But spokesman Michael Polzin said inventories were tough to maintain.
"We haven't had a delivery since Thursday," he said. "But we're expecting to get full truckloads in beginning (today)."
Grocery stores reported limited supplies of some essentials. The Publix on S Dale Mabry in Tampa was open Monday but had to stop selling perishable items and frozen food after the electricity went out around 12:30 p.m.
Generators powered the store's lights and cash registers and kept ice supplies cold. Refrigerator cases for fresh meats, chilled juice and salads were emptied. Others that still held dairy products were covered with butcher paper, and grocery carts blocked aisles of frozen-food cases.
At a Publix across Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg's Tyrone area, the lights were on but milk and bread were scarce.
"Most of our deliveries are out of Sarasota," said Brad Turner, office staffer. "So they're not coming here today with the Sunshine Skyway closed."
Winn-Dixie had trucked in extra supplies of staples such as ice from Texas and Louisiana, holding them in Jacksonville until the storm cleared.
Kathy Lussier, Winn-Dixie spokeswoman, said the company was opening stores throughout the state just as soon as weather permitted. She said the opening of some stores in South Florida were met with crowds that made the best efforts at resupply insufficient.
"We've had some with lines of people waiting to get in," she said. "At some point you're going to run out of something."
Home improvement chains were busy as soon as the weather improved. Jennifer Smith, a spokeswoman for Lowe's, said only one of its 63 Florida stores - in Vero Beach - was unable to open Monday. She said the company set up its logistics "war room" for supplying Hurricane Frances a week ago. The only item in short supply: generators.
"We are literally purchasing every generator our suppliers have as soon as they come off the production lines," she said.
People desperate for entertainment were lining up for movie rentals at Hollywood Video across from the Tyrone Mall. Though the store's sign had been demolished by high winds, and an oak tree in the parking lot was bent to the ground, the store closed for only six hours during the worst of the storm on Sunday.
"Since Friday we've done (in sales) what we usually do in an entire week," said assistant manager Heather Schmeck. "There's just been nothing for anybody to do."
Next door at Best Buy, computer area manager Jamie Melanson said crowds were good but sales were slow Monday.
"We usually do $200,000 in sales on a holiday and after three hours today we've only done about $30,000, so we'll do nowhere near our budget," he said. "But we're providing a service so people can come out and stretch their legs. If you've got no power at home, it's cooler in here."
Folks without electric service were also mobbing restaurants Monday. At Longhorn Steakhouse in west St. Petersburg, the Labor Day lunch business was three times heavier than usual. That was a mixed blessing for manager Casey Wotowiec, who was missing four of his 10 workers.
"It's been nonstop," said Wotowiec, in a quick break from the kitchen. "The good news is we have enough provisions to last through Tuesday and we had zero damage."
Not every business owner was so lucky. Instead of serving customers yesterday, the owners of Gaslight Antiques in South Tampa were moving chairs, dressers and other furniture out of the store's main gallery, which lost its roof to a gust of wind late Saturday afternoon.
Insulation hung from the ceiling between Tiffany-style lamps. Water was still dripping onto the soggy carpet Monday afternoon. An owner, who identified herself only as Vikki, said dozens of pieces were damaged when parts of the ceiling collapsed.
Her husband tried unsuccessfully to stop water from coming inside. A neighbor who owns a roofing company rushed a crew over to put a temporary repair on the roof. Family and friends helped move American, Victorian and Georgian antiques into adjacent showrooms Sunday and Monday. Gaslight's owner said she expects her business will reopen today.
Times staff writers Alex Leary and Scott Montgomery contributed to this report. Kris Hundley can be reached at 727 892-2996 or hundley@sptimes.com Steve Huettel can be reached at (813) 226-3384 or huettel@sptimes.com
