Greenville business owners talk aftermath of Hurricane Florence

Businesses along Dickinson Avenue bordered up ahead of Hurricane Florence.

As the remnants of Florence push away from North Carolina, businesses in Uptown Greenville are starting to open its doors in hopes of going back to routine and leaving the storm behind them.

Typically open well into the night, Greenville hot dog joint Sup Dogs took precaution for the incoming hurricane by closing its doors at 9 p.m. last Thursday, which is six hours earlier than regular closing hours. The restaurant reopened its doors Sunday morning at 11.

In addition to closing its doors to customers, the staff at Sup Dogs stored seating such as chairs and stools in the rooftop kitchen and purchased sandbags to place outside of the rooftop kitchen’s door.

“During the hurricane, all I did was monitor Sup Dogs’ Instagram or Twitter to see when they would open up again,” Amory Lawson, a junior political science major, said. “I feel for other businesses who may have been hit even harder, considering how much of an impact Florence had on Greenville.”

Going a step further in precaution was Ford+Shep, a restaurant which specializes in seasonal cuisine. Located at 718 Dickinson Ave., the restaurant decided to board up its windows and doors with wood. This safety measure, according to Ford+Shep’s owner Brandon Qualls, was done to protect the restaurant’s interior and greenhouse.

“We were closed on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so we lost revenue and in the days after the hurricane,” Qualls said. “We were fortunate enough to not lose a lot of food. We were fortunate for not sustaining much damage, as other businesses in Wilmington and further south may have.”

Some local businesses did their part during the storm by feeding Greenville response teams.

Luna Pizza owner, Richard Williams, said Uptown Greenville and Uptown’s President and CEO, Bianca Shoneman should get the credit for feeding the response units during this hurricane scare.

“The day before the storm, Uptown Greenville started reaching out to local businesses asking them to pay for or provide food for different response units,” Williams said. “Once we agreed, we were assigned the police department, but we wanted to help out a little more, so we talked to Bianca about who else needed food.”

Even though Luna Pizza was closed during the hurricane, Williams brought in two of his chefs and fed the emergency operation center for the city of Greenville and Greenville utility workers.

“A lot of people left thinking we were going to get destroyed here, but it really wasn’t that bad,” Williams said. “I obviously wouldn’t have brought in employees if I thought they were under any kind of threat.”

After making the pizzas, Williams hand delivered them in his Jeep. He said everyone was very appreciative and some people have even been to the restaurant since to thank him.

Williams said Jay Bastardo, the owner of Villa Verde, has been the biggest help through this all. According to Williams, Bastardo has been offering free food to first responder workers since the day before Florence and has brought his food truck to Wilmington to feed anyone who needs it.

“He’s (Bastardo) the real hero through this, he has a special way to get down to Wilmington,” Williams said. “Jay’s invited tons and tons of volunteers to go with him and it’s just great what he’s done for not only Greenville, but other communities as well.”