VENICE, Fla. — A Fort Myers Beach business owner has relocated his business to Venice after Hurricane Ian destroyed it nearly ten months ago.
Steve Lane opened The Wave Gallery, located at 209 Miami Avenue West in Venice, Florida, less than two weeks ago. He had a store in Fort Myers Beach for about eight years, but Hurricane Ian destroyed it in late September.
“Everybody made a good living down there, we had some great times and then the hurricane came and the store ended up in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Lane.
Lane said his business was leveled, but he found one single neon T-shirt where his business once stood. It is on display in the window of his new store.
“I think what happened is someone found the shirt somewhere, that’s been my best-selling shirt down there for about eight years, very recognizable shirt, somebody found it and brought it back to where my store was,” said Lane.
Lane believes rebuilding in Fort Myers Beach would have been too costly. His main concern was keeping his employees working in a store, so he decided to relocate to Venice.
“I was driving around looking for something that was available mainly and the main goal was just now that it’s summertime, it’s the time to make any kind of move like that and it allowed me to keep everyone working throughout the summer,” said Lane.
Lane’s business also displays artwork from artist Leoma Lovegrove. The hurricane destroyed Lovegrove’s art gallery in Matlacha.
Eventually, Lovegrove plans to reopen a gallery in Fort Myers.
“Ten months post Hurricane Ian, it’s still unbelievable to me that three hours, my life could be turned upside down,” she said. “I lost my business, my lodge, everything, studio, home."
Lovegrove believes she lost more than $800,000 in artwork. She appreciates the new opportunity in Venice to allow people to see and buy her artwork.
The two business owners are working together to rebuild everything mother nature destroyed.
“We’ve been doing business for some time, but we’ve never partnered up like this, so good things come out of the hurricane. I’m just really blessed to be here on a fabulous street in Venice,” said Lovegrove.