The Brief
- Nearly two years after Hurricanes Helene and Milton devastated the coast, a St. Pete Beach business owner is celebrating a fresh start thanks to an unexpected partnership.
- After floodwaters destroyed her long-running shop, 70-year-old Robbie Caan wasn’t sure what to do until a complete stranger offered to rebuild her store for free.
- Today, that stranger is her business partner and they’ve reopened the Corey Avenue store.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Nearly two years after Hurricanes Helene and Milton battered the Florida coast, many local business owners are still piecing their lives back together.
For Robbie Caan, owner of the St. Pete Beach boutique Simply Perfect, the road to recovery seemed impossible until an act of kindness from a complete stranger changed everything.
St. Pete Beach business recovery
The backstory:
When Hurricane Helene pushed 3.5 feet of floodwater into her Corey Avenue shop, Caan lost nearly everything she had built over three decades.…