Packing 150-mile-per-hour winds and storm surges as high as 15 feet, the Category 4 Hurricane Ian ravaged southwest Florida in September 2022. Directly in the path of the storm was The Goodz, Inc., an independent hardware store in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. 

Billed as “Your Island Everything Store,” The Goodz sold everything from hardware to souvenirs, but was completely destroyed by Ian. Wind and water weren’t enough to keep the business down however, and owner Graham Belger is already well on his way to bringing his business back better and stronger. 

Having lived in Fort Myers Beach his whole life, Belger’s commitment and passion for his community run deep. He grew up helping his father, who was a handyman on the island, learning a variety of skills. The island had a hardware store, which had been a staple in the area since the 1950s, and in 2013, the owner approached Belger about purchasing the business.  

“I was sick of waiting tables, so I went and really looked at it and saw it was in a good location,” Belger says. “I took a business plan to a local man my dad knew, and after talking with him for an hour, he literally wrote us a check for $80,000 on the spot to buy the business. I was able to pay him back within four or five years, and was grateful for the start he gave me.” 

The first year under Belger’s helm, the store did $300,000 in sales, and the year Ian hit, the store was on track to do $2 million in sales. 

“When I bought the store it was in rough shape, so I was able to add a number of other items,” Belger says. “I would say, ‘If we don’t have it, you don’t need it.’ It was a full hardware store with a gift shop, souvenirs and beach gear. I even added 42 flavors of a really good local homemade ice cream. We literally had everything.”

Facing the Storm

On Sept. 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian came roaring onshore, leaving Fort Myers Beach and The Goodz with catastrophic damage. The store was closed for about five months, as Belger was not only dealing with the store’s damage but also the almost four feet water at his home.

“I took care of my family and our home and then started to focus on the store,” Belger says. “I started going down to the building—what was left of it—and was digging through that for months, trying to save anything I possibly could.”

Catty-corner to the store sat a boutique hotel, owned by the president of the local chamber of commerce, Jacki Liszak. As Belger was cleaning up, Liszak approached him with an offer to use her property and set up semi trailers to use as a temporary store until he could rebuild on his existing lot. 

Belger found a double-wide trailer for a good price, added product and reopened The Goodz in April 2023.

“I opened with mainly just hardware and added a fridge with cold drinks and snacks because there was still literally nowhere on the island at that point where you could even get a cold drink. All the 7-Elevens, the grocery store, everything was gone,” Belger says. “We were the first place to open that had all the essentials.”

It wasn’t long before customers were asking for the locally loved Love Boat Ice Cream again, so Belger bought a 16-foot enclosed trailer and built it out with his father to serve as the new ice cream shop.

“We were just operating out of there for the first two years after Ian. It was going well and a major help for everybody here on the island,” Belger says. “It was great to see the support from other businesses and the community.”

In May 2025, Belger had to pivot as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) required him to remove the double-wide trailer from the property. To replace the larger trailer, he purchased two 24-foot trailers, transferred all the hardware inventory to those and added a 20-foot trailer for the gift shop items, drinks, snacks and checkout. Belger also added sun shades and hanging lights to create a comfortable ambiance for customers.
“Sales are definitely down unfortunately because everybody got used to our other big trailer, and now that they don’t see it here anymore, many customers think we’ve closed down again,” Belger says. “They don’t realize I still have everything I had, just in these new other trailers. So that’s been a battle the last few months.”

Forging Ahead

In July, Belger was able to officially announce to his customers that groundbreaking for the new store would be coming soon. The new 6,000-square-foot store will be three stories with parking on the ground floor and the two other stories elevated for future hurricane protection. It will sit in the same footprint as the store Ian destroyed. 

The second floor will include the hardware store, gift shops, souvenirs and the ice cream shop, while the third floor will be home to a family style arcade. 

“It’ll be like a Dave and Buster’s with a whole bunch of games, a beer and wine bar and a pizza kitchen,” Belger says. “We’ll have a nice balcony on the front of the store out by the road for people to eat ice cream out there. On the third level, there’ll be a large outdoor seating area where parents can have a beer, eat pizza and watch the sunset while the kids are playing games.”

While the new store will be a huge undertaking, Belger is confident he has the recipe for success and will be able to meet the needs of his customers and the community in bigger and better ways. He’s also learned some important lessons in facing adversity that will help him face whatever is next.

“You can’t give up,” Belger says. “You have to adapt and find a way to make it work.”