Tin City in Naples finally has the pedal to the metal and is fully operational months after the waterfront tourist and shopping destination sustained major damage from Hurricane Ian and a freak accident.  

The four shops damaged by a car that plowed into Tin City on Black Friday were able to reopen last Friday for the first time in more than three months. They were making progress cleaning out the muddy mess left behind from the Sept. 28 hurricane’s nearly 3 feet of storm surge in the series of wooden buildings when the crash occurred two months later.  

The driver escaped serious injury after his southbound car on Goodlette-Frank Road hopped the U.S. 41 curb at a high rate of speed and flew through the side of The Naples Winery at Tin City at about 1:45 a.m. Nov. 25. The wine shop, a beauty boutique, stone shop and jewelry store were damaged.  

Besides the stores wrecked by the car crash, Tin City made good progress bouncing back from the historical storm damage, said Craig Ekonomos, a commercial realtor who became property manager of the local destination a year ago.  

“We got it open in about 76 days. So, from the storm until Dec. 15 we rocked and rolled and got it open,” Ekonomos said. Pinchers seafood restaurant was the first place in Tin City back in business when it reopened Oct. 26.“We were flooded by about 2 and a half to 3 feet,” Ekonomos said. “The issue was we got that Gordon River mud in here. That was the bad part. It went through all the buildings. So, we hired Servepro out of Miami who came in and they remediated it. We pressure-cleaned all the mud out. We disinfected. We cut all the drywall out. We replaced all of the electric outlets. We remediated it properly. It was done the right way. That’s why it took us as long as it did.”  

Because the badly damaged Naples Pier remains closed since the storm, more people have been discovering Tin City, another historical destination in the city, Ekonomos said.  

“The weather’s been perfect. It’s been bringing a lot of people here,” he said. “We’re very happy. It’s really going good. It’s back to normal.”  

Tin City’s legacy began in the 1920s when Henry Espenlaub, brother-in-law of legendary swamp buggy creator Ed Frank, leased his property to commercial fishing pioneers in Naples. They built docks and tin-roofed buildings to service fishing fleets as well as a clam and oyster processing plant. Strategically positioned on nearly 3 acres along the Gordon River near the Naples Depot and the Tamiami Trail — both established in the late 1920s — the location was one of Naples’ first economic centers. Fifty years later, developer Kenney Schryver and business partner Vin DePasquale led the initiative in the late ‘70s to transform the old cannery into a rustic waterside shopping area with a collection of independent businesses at 1200 Fifth Ave. S. The hurricane didn’t scare away any tenants. “Every store, every tenant came back,” Ekonomos said. “Some people have been here 30 or 40 years as a business.”  

The dining destinations — Pinchers, Riverwalk and M&M’s Cafe — are among the biggest draws at Tin City. The shops also have businesses selling other sweet treats, clothing and fashion accessories, jewelry, home goods, toys, water adventures and other local services and specialties.  

“It’s a big place,” Ekonomos said. “We’ve got 30 tenants and more than 30,000 square feet.”  

In addition to the Naples Winery, the other stores to finally reopen Friday after being damaged by the car crash are Beauty Boutique, Tropical Beauties and World of Nature. So, Tin City is completely back in business with no vacancies, Ekonomos said.