Florida furniture store gives away everything after Hurricane Ian flooded showroom
Local Florida furniture store owners have donated several truckloads of furniture and 100 mattresses to residents devastated by Hurricane Ian in Port Charlotte after their showroom flooded.
Stephany Richmond and her son, Morgan Richmond, of Sarasota, own six furniture warehouse retail locations in West Florida, including Bradenton and Ellenton. She said surviving Hurricane Ian feels a lot like “deja vu.”
Stephany and her late husband, Mark, opened their Port Charlotte location after Hurricane Charley hit the area in 2004.
Now it has closed to undergo complete renovations after Ian ripped away two air-conditioning units from the roof, which allowed rain flood the whole 20,000-square foot-showroom with 4 inches of water.
Rather than throw away the lightly damaged furniture, Morgan and sales and delivery employees from their other retail locations quickly worked to remove the items from the store, salvaging them and allowing them to dry and be donated.
They shared in a Facebook post from their Port Charlotte store business page that they would be donating the furniture from their showroom and the post went viral, gaining over 4,000 shares and hundreds of comments.
For the next several days, thousands of residents showed up at the store in search of food, water and furniture.
“When we saw the response on the Facebook post and how many people needed it, it was very eye-opening to see and we knew we needed to do more,” Morgan said.
Morgan then enlisted the help of their mattress vendors, Restonic and Therapedic, which donated water, food and supplies to their relief efforts.
Therapedic sent 100 beds to be given away.
“When the truckload of bed pulled in got those out to the people who needed the within 30 minutes,” he said.
Morgan said he made the call to vendors for extra help because, “it was what my father would have done. He helped so many people and we wanted to do the same.”
Georgi Jones of Palmetto, the director of sales for the Furniture Warehouse, coordinated most of the store’s relief efforts. She made multiple trips down to Port Charlotte in the days after Ian to help her coworkers and other residents.
She posted in her neighborhood Facebook group for residents of Artisan lake, letting people know she would be collecting donations for Port Charlotte’s families.
“As I’m traveling back and forth, my 15-year-old son called and said, mom it’s people at the door with a lot of stuff, so many people are bringing things and I said isn’t that awesome.”
Jones collected two pickup trucks full of water, clothes, new undergarments and non-perishable foods.
She believes the moment taught her son a life lesson about being a “good human.”
“I always tell him to be a good human and it’ll come back around to you,” she said as her voice cracked.
Jones did not stop there and tried to do everything she could to help. She even took in the manager of the North Port store and her children who lost power in their home.
“I’ve been with Furniture Warehouse for nine years, and it’s always been about family,” she said.
“They’re more than just employees; I care deeply about them. I know about their lives, spouses and kids, and seeing them in any kind of pain was very difficult.”
Jones even made trips to bring gas to those who needed it after observing only two gas stations were open and learning that people were waiting up to 5 hours.
“A lot of the people we helped were sleeping in their cars,” she said. “They couldn’t get to their houses after they evacuated because of the water.”
The Richmonds and Jones each echoed how important it was to be there for the community that has patronized their store since it opened 18 years ago.
“We have six locations, and they’re right here. This is our people. This is our family,“ Jones said. “Something had to be done. It was a great team effort and I was proud to be part of it. “
The road to rebuilding and return back to normalcy is a long one for the residents and businesses of Southwest Florida, and The Furniture Warehouse plans to to host another food drive, have a hurricane relief sale and offer extended financing options.
As for the store,
new drywall, flooring and A/C unites have to be installed before the store reopens, which estimated to take a few months.
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This story was originally published October 10, 2022 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Florida furniture store gives away everything after Hurricane Ian flooded showroom."
