- May 16, 2024
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Eddie James, of Brownie’s Dog Boutique, greets customers Charlotte Lambert and Darlene Duncan. Lambert said she’s a regular customer of Wine-Me and wanted to support the businesses on the street. Photo by Wayne Grant
Classic cars seemed to transport Beach Street back to an earlier day. Photo by Wayne Grant
Carousel Antiques owners Connie May and William Dent protected valuable items during the flood, such as these porcelain figures made by Lladro of Italy. Photo by Wayne Grant
A river of people flowed up and down the sidewalks of Beach Street on Sept. 29, which was much preferred over the river of water that seeped through doors and crevices during Hurricane Irma. The Downtown Hurricane Rally was organized by the Daytona Regional Chamber of Commerce to signal that most restaurants, antique shops and specialty stores are open for business.
Eddie James, owner of Brownie’s Dog Boutique, 228 S. Beach St., was grateful for the event, but was not happy with name. He said the street is often portrayed as poor and downtrodden, and the word “hurricane” makes it sound like yet another big problem for the historic shopping district.
“Beach Street is always talked about in a sad way,” he said.
He would like to see the positive aspects discussed in the media and public conversation.
“The new businesses are not talked about,” he said. “We should talk about the beauty and the architecture. That should be the story.”
He also pointed to the park across the street.
“Look at that view,” he said.
Beach Street, the historic downtown, has often been in the news with stories of homelessness and loss of business to other shopping areas.
Jason Jeffries, project manager for Daytona Beach, who was manning the Riverfront Shops booth at the rally, said the vacancy rate is currently six percent for the area.
“It’s very stable coming out of the recession,” he said.
For the future, he pointed out that Brown and Brown headquarters planned for the street should have a big impact. He also said there are four more residential and commercial developments coming but they are in the preliminary stages and he could not discuss details.
There are more than 60 shops, restaurants, attractions and services on Beach Street and nearby streets, according to riverfrontshopsofdaytona.com.
At Carousel Antiques, 110 N. Beach St., Connie May and business partner William Dent were also pleased with the event.
“I think it’s nice of them to do it,” May said.
There were at the store during Hurricane Irma and were able to “fight it,” they said, placing a stack of quilts against the door and soaking up water as it came in.
May said waves with whitecaps were beating against the door as the river left its banks and covered the street. They used four-inch Gorilla tape around the door which worked pretty well, Dent said, except the wind and water kept shaking the door.
“We were able to control it pretty good,” May said.
The next day, they were able to remove the water that came in with Wet Vacs.
The street rally, which was well-attended, featured two live bands, a kid’s zone and car club displays.
“We should talk about the beauty and the architecture. That should be the story.”
EDDIE JAMES, owner of Brownie’s Dog Boutique
