May 16
Kings Harbor stores begin to bounce back after Harvey
While a deluge of floodwaters Hurricane Harvey forced many businesses in Kings Harbor to close for several months, it also gave local owners a chance to expand and reinvent themselves.
Eight of 13 restaurants and businesses at Kings Harbor — a mixed-use development on Lake Houston — have reopened, said Jonathan Brinsden, CEO of Midway Properties, the owners of Kings Harbor.
The businesses include Edward Jones Investments, Orion, Comfort & Care Medical Supplies, Joseph Chris Partners and BRW Architects. In April, the Berry Bar, Pretty Little Things and Dapper Darlings celebrated their grand re-opening.
Several popular waterfront restaurants, such as Sharky’s, Raffa’s and Zammitti’s have plans to reopen this summer or fall.
“Businesses at Kings Harbor had never flooded before Harvey, so we are thankful to resume activities that make this community so special,” Brinsden said. “We also understand the importance of being prepared and protected for hurricane season.”
Berry Bar Owner Joseph Nguyen said his business took on almost 5 feet of water and lost most of his equipment during Harvey.
Nguyen said he was thankful for Midway Properties to hire professionals to take down the dry wall and take care of other property damages to his and all other businesses in Kings Harbor.
“As soon as waters receded, Midway contracted a remediation company to come in and begin cleaning spaces and removing sheet rock and non-recoverable items,” Brinsden said.
During those eight months of forced closure, Nguyen and his family were unemployed but that didn’t stop them from coming back to Kings Harbor with a new look and a new menu with plenty of healthy options.
Some recently added items to the Berry Bar menu include their acai bowl, the berry bar waffle, fruit smoothies, mangonadas, flavored snow ice and fresh fruit juices.
“We see all the customers that came out and supported us, they know we struggled for the last 8 months so a lot of people came out and said hi to us and congratulated us for coming back to business,” Ngyuen said.
Behind the Berry Bar is Dapper Darlings, a clothing store for infants and toddlers that was only open for 13 days before Hurricane Harvey hit.
Dapper Darlings Owner Felicia Cumby said while the store was closed for repairs they created a website to continue the business and sell at local events. Dapper Darlings took in more than 5 feet of water as well.
All of the clothing and equipment at Dapper Darlings was damaged.
“Initially I didn’t think (the flooding) was going to be a problem because this area hasn’t taken on that much water since Kings Harbor has been built,” Cumby said. “I wasn’t worried at the time. I thought there was no way that it was going to get up here to the store much less 5 and a half feet into the store.”
Since launching their website, Dapper Darling’s clientele has expanded and Cumby said.
“The notoriety that Hurricane Harvey brought to the Houston area — it was all over the news, because it was so devastating — people just wanted to support the businesses and the people that were affected,” Cumby said.
During those eight months of being closed, Cumby took the time to increase her product offering in Dapper Darlings. Now the business is a one-stop-shop for events such as baby showers and birthdays for children.
When one enters Dapper Darlings there will be a painting next to the entry of a wave that has a bible verse on it. The wave represents how much water was in the store.
“It just meant something to us. Honestly, that was a really hard time for my family as you could imagine. We poured a lot of our savings into this and anybody opening a business is taking a risk but the risk that we didn’t think we were taking was a hurricane coming to destroy things a couple days later,” Cumby said.
One thing both Nguyen and Cumby did after the hurricane was get flood insurance to secure themselves in case another hurricane or natural disaster hits.
“You may never know the caliber of the people working shoulder-to-shoulder with you until they are put to the test. I have always appreciated the Midway team, and as a Kingwood resident almost all my life, I knew this is a wonderful community. But I have never been more impressed with the character of people who came together and supported each other as we recovered from Harvey,” Brinsden said.
For the full article, visit Houston Chronicle here.
