The owner of MacIntosh Books + Paper, undaunted by the devastation of her Sanibel Island store, opened a new location at Bell Tower shopping center in south Fort Myers.

Rebecca Binkowski, the bookstore’s fifth owner since it opened in 1960 on the island, veered into uncharted territory as her regular location at The Village Shops off Periwinkle Way remains gutted of its interior while renovations are being made. She does have an island presence from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays at Rachel Pierce’s outdoor market at 1571 Periwinkle Way, a previous location of Sanibel Island Bookshop.

In the meantime, the Bell Tower location is open at suite 213, near Bed Bath & Beyond. MacIntosh Books is open there from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. “I have a lot of customers who are living in their homes on the island, trying to rebuild,” Binkowski said. “They’re toughing it out. I’m trying to put on a happy face and have some semblance of normal. I feel like it’s important to keep the community going.”

MacIntosh Books is just one of eight island businesses that relocated to Bell Tower, which has been struggling in recent years to remain fully occupied with tenants.

“Bell Tower contacted me,” Binkowski said. “We came out to look. They were very thoughtful about bringing new businesses in after what we had been through. They made it really easy for us to move over and start from scratch.”

The bookstore lost tens of thousands of dollars of books to Hurricane Ian’s storm surge on Sept. 28. In turning a negative into a positive, Binkowski began rebuilding the store by ordering her and her customers’ favorite books.She said she’s either resilient or crazy as the store enters its 63rd year of existence. After managing it for six years, she bought it in 2017.

The Bell Tower location has a six-month lease, and, if all goes well, Binkowski said she might be inclined to continue with two locations.

MacIntosh has two author signing events planned for the new location, with Annabel Monaghan signing her “Nora Goes Off Script” at noon March 2 and Trish Doller signing her latest, “Off the Map,” at 5 p.m. March 8.

“We feel at home,” Binkowski said. “What this has allowed us to do is not only connect with our customers but also connect with each other as a business community.”