Seven C Music's co-owners David Hosler (left) and Joel Hosler.
In the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, MI retailers and suppliers in Florida and North Carolina have been hit hard, facing not only physical devastation but also operational challenges. Hurricane Milton, which hit Florida on Oct. 10, and Hurricane Helene, which made landfall on Sept. 26 and caused severe flooding in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, have created a complex impact.
David Hosler, co-owner of Seven C Music in St. Petersburg, Florida, which specializes in selling and repairing high-end guitars, described his store’s firsthand experience dealing with last week’s Hurricane Milton.
“The whole city is still pretty much a disaster,” Hosler said. “We closed the store on Tuesday afternoon [Oct. 8], and we only just opened on Tuesday [Oct. 15] and put guitars back on the wall. We still don’t have internet. We just got power yesterday here at the store. There was no water available and no sewer available for at least a day. We’re doing as much free repair work we can for working musicians who now have no work here. The whole beach area is wiped out. There’s at least 20 performance venues here that are currently either completely gone or who knows what’s going to happen with them. It’s pretty disastrous.”
To prep for natural disaster emergencies, Hosler said Seven C staffers boxed up the guitars to prevent humidity and flooding to damage any of the gear.
“We probably got 40 guitars that are water damaged from the first that came through,” Hosler said. “We’ve got them in controlled environments, trying to see what can be saved. People have been walking with entire collections that went underwater, vintage instruments, everything, and we’re doing all we can to help them.”
In the aftermath of the hurricanes, the local music scene has been hit hard. Many musicians, who rely on steady gigs and live performances, have found themselves in a tough position with venues closed, equipment destroyed and gigs canceled. The sense of community, however, remains strong.
“There’s a huge amount of live music here,” Hosler said. “There’s more full time musicians in this town than anywhere I’ve ever been, and so they’re all pretty much without work and a lot of lost instruments. Everybody’s jumping in to lend things to each other and to help out as best they can. There’s an economic fallout from this sort of disaster in this swath of an area that I’m sure is going to affect us for the next three months at minimum because so much is lost and people are coming in the store with a whole collection of guitars that went underwater from the first storm.”
Evan Rubinson, CEO and president of Meters Music, which is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, said challenges range from immediate needs, such as a lack of access to medicines, power outages, emergency evacuations and flooding, to business challenges, such as experiencing severe shipping delays and functional work delays without internet or power.
“Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, making landfall in Florida within two weeks of each other, were absolutely devastating for nearly three-quarters of Florida, not to mention the mayhem Helene caused in the unexpecting Carolinas,” Rubinson said. “As for our Meters Music operations here in Tampa, it feels like we’ve been closed more than we’ve been open over the last three weeks. Between perpetual power outages, lack of internet, flooding, team members’ homes being destroyed, and shipping providers canceling most services for our area, it’s proved a challenging time. We couldn’t be more excited to finally get back to work after not having power for six days.”
The destruction of physical stores and inventory is only part of the story. According to Rubinson, there’s not a way for a hurricane to not disrupt business as it shakes everyone to their core. Its inbound and outbound shipping providers are “essentially frozen in time” as the state is looking for flooding to recede, ports to open and gas to become available.
Meters Music’s team is also dealing with personal losses and potential massive expenditures to repair their homes. Lack of internet and power preclude most aspects of business and the general morale after back-to-back storms of this magnitude can be crushing.
“Despite a few weeks without power, some minor flooding, a few uprooted trees, and some roof repairs, we are up and running as of today and very thankful,” Rubinson said. “That’s why Meters Music has decided to donate 2% of all proceeds to Florida Hurricane Relief Funds for all those still suffering. That’s why I find it so important to seek that silver lining by giving back to the community we live and breathe in, and getting our company and local friends together for something positive.” MI
