ECONOMY
Business is booming in the wintertime at downtown eateries and bars. Cobb’s Landing, at the Fort Pierce City Marina, recently added additional seating under
the cover of a thatched roof to its waterfront restaurant. The dining area, created by Seminole Tiki Huts, was built in Seminole chickee hut style, with cypress
wood framing and a thatching of sabal palm fronds.
8
DOWNTOWN
UPSWING
RUSTY DURHAM
Downtown’s charm continues to attract shoppers,
restaurant and bar patrons
TCBusiness.com
Downtown Fort Pierce, like many
other historical neighborhoods, is
always in a state of flux. Businesses
come in, some succeed while others fall by
the wayside.
In recent years, the newcomers have
outnumbered the failures, although there
have been a few of the latter. Fort Pierce
seems to have reached a steady-state
period after a period of heady growth.
According to reports by local merchants,
shoppers are still discovering the charms
of downtown and its small, independent
stores that offer one-off boutiques, gift
stores and eating and drinking establishments
not found anywhere else.
This year’s Shop Small Saturday bears
out the trend. The event, held on Nov. 26,
the first Saturday after Thanksgiving, is
intended to draw shoppers to areas like
downtown Fort Pierce.
In 2021, nationally, 51 million shoppers
participated in Shop Small Saturday,
spending $20 billion, according to the >>
BY ANTHONY WESTBURY
/TCBusiness.com
