'We are open!' Bradenton Beach businesses begin to reopen post hurricanes

Businesses reopening after Milton

Kimberly Kuizon reports

BRADENTON BEACH, Fla. - The smoker is up and running at Smoqehouse on Bradenton Beach.

"We need people, and we want to get back to normalcy," said owner Heidi Kubes.

The Kubes family put in a lot of work to reopen.

Their main focus was on employees and their island town.

"We didn’t want to lose them to other places. They’ve been with us for a long time. We just wanted to keep our team, and we wanted to be around for the community," said Kubes.

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Bradenton Beach attorney Ricinda Perry told FOX 13 around 75 percent of restaurants have reopened. It's giving some hope to the community and city during one of their hardest times.

Anna Maria Oyster Bar on the Pier at Bridge Street is one of them.

"Business has been building every day since Friday, so we are really pleased to be coming back," said CEO John Horne of Oysters Rock Hospitality.

As a bartender pours a glass of cold beer, servers deliver fresh seafood.

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The sound of work on Bridge Street carries through the air.

"We don’t mind any of that noise. We will take the hammer because that just means we are getting our city back to the way it should be. We’ve got the dock builders out here. They’re working on the day dock so we can get the ferry running again and get people from town coming back out to the island and seeing all the progress everybody out here has done," said Horne.

Monetti Apparel was the first retail store back open in the city.

"We are open. We have plenty, and we’d love people to come in and say hello. We will give them a glass of champagne," said John Monetti.

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Perry works to share uplifting stories with the community and beyond through social media.

You can find her updates at the Bradenton Beach Police Facebook page.

"It’s my goal that we will continue to bring that spirit of love and joy to everybody, because it’s been a hard time and it’s love and joy that brings healing, and it’s in addition to the restoration you have to keep that in focus. So it’s hope, love and healing all coming together in one," she said.

Her city has been through heartache, but she knows with time the place she and so many others love will be back.

"There’s nothing that will keep us down. We are coming back without doubt, stronger and better than ever," she said.

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