- April 25, 2024
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The annual Summer Sidewalk Sale was coming up on Saturday, so Belinda Wilson had prepared batches of new popcorn in anticipation of the large crowds the downtown Winter Garden event typically drew.
She didn’t get the chance to sell it; instead, she had to throw away all the popcorn plus about 125 pounds of candy after the roof over Ms. Bee’s Gourmet Popcorn and Candy Shoppe collapsed June 7 during heavy rainstorms.
The rain flooded Ms. Bee’s, at 2 E. Plant St., and Plantation Jewelers, next door at 4 E. Plant St., and water from the continual rains still is seeping into the 57-year-old building more than a week later.
“We can’t do anything because of the roof,” Wilson said of the cleanup progress in Ms. Bee’s. “If it was a pipe in the floor, you could fix that, or a broken window, you can fix that, but with the daily rains it’s impossible. My 10 employees are out of work, I am out of work.”
Alex Ramos temporarily has moved his jewelry business into a nearby storefront while his original space is under repair. His operating hours will remain the same.
Winter Garden officials have met with Ramos and Wilson and offered several properties for them to move into temporarily, “but, unfortunately, my type of business and my machinery requires certain electricity, and just moving and setting up, it’s a lot of money for that,” Wilson said.
The roof issue began Thursday, June 6, during another rainstorm. Wilson said an employee called her and said a ceiling tile was about to come down. The next morning, Wilson and her husband removed several more on the verge of falling and opened for business.
About three hours later, rainwater brought down the ceilings plus insulation at both businesses. Saturday morning, Wilson said, water still was pouring down.
Her contents and equipment are insured, as is Ramos’ inventory.
Ramos said he noticed water leaking from his light fixtures and ceiling tiles beginning to fall on Friday afternoon. He and his employees, who were still working, covered up merchandise and moved items to the safe. He was in the process of expanding into the former West Orange Bike space at 6 E. Plant, so he was able to move his inventory into the dry space over the weekend.
He will operate there until the original space is repaired, and that will take three to six months, he said.
“The community has been wonderful,” Ramos said. “The first day I just opened up after I moved, I had people coming in to buy Christmas presents. People were saying, ‘I’ve been wanting to buy a new chain, so I figured now was a good time to buy it.’”
He added: “I’m going to be fine. This is just a speedbump.”
Wilson said she doesn’t intend to move to another location, so she will wait until the repairs are made.
“Part of me (says) it would be cheaper to just pack up and find another place, but the outpour of the people in this community who have come by, who have posted on Facebook, who have emailed me their support and their love: ‘We don’t want you to go anywhere; what can we do to help?’” Wilson said.
“This is where Ms. Bee’s started, and this is where Ms. Bee’s needs to stay,” she said. “I will figure out the financial part to make it work.”
She expects the roofers to be finished by the end of the week, and then the real work can begin for Wilson. In addition to all of the candy and popcorn, she has to discard her cabinetry and shelving, she said.
One important item has been saved from damage, she said, and that’s Arabella, the carousel horse that usually graces the front window of the store. Arabella definitely will make a comeback in Ms. Bee’s when it opens again, she said.
Wilson is anticipating an August reopening.
“I have great faith and belief, and I know that God is with me and He’s walking with me and opening doors and putting people in my life that will get me back up and running,” she said.
