Just like everybody else at home and at businesses, Steve White got ready for Hurricane Irma by battening down the hatches at his barbecue restaurant, Porkie’s Original BBQ, on Main Street in Apopka.
But, unlike most everyone else, White’s business stayed shuttered for about a week because he didn’t have enough electrical power feeding into the eatery that he’s operated for nearly 15 years.
“We burned up two coolers and an air conditioner,” White said. “I really thought it would be fixed a lot sooner because I knew it was just one phase (of electrical power) that was out. We had lights but we couldn’t turn on any equipment. That’s what burned up the equipment because they weren’t getting enough power. I had them all cut off at the breaker but it still happened.”
All the power was installed Monday, September 18, but it had been more than a week that the restaurant was closed due to the storm and the power being off.
However, despite having no cash flow for several days, White kept his 10 employees on the payroll.
“Just being without sales for a week, that’s the rough part,” White said. “I kept everybody employed. We kept them working. We just did a lot of cleaning. Took the place apart and started all over again.
“I had to do it because I can’t lose them. They’re all good people. They’ve got to live and function throughout this thing, too.”
He said the time without power cost him about $40,000 in sales.
“A lot of that is cost so it goes right back to other people,” White said. “It’s not that much profit, but it’s cash flow. That’s the secret to business. If you have cash flow, you’ll stay open. My bank account went down real low.”
For the Apopka community, the plus side to Porkie’s being down for an entire week is that it may keep White smoking meat for more time than he originally planned.
“It just put me about a year behind. I’ll have to retire a year later. I’ll have to work another year,” White said with a big smile.
His power was turned back on when a Duke Energy worker stopped by for lunch, not realizing the restaurant was closed. When White told the worker about the power issue, the worker went to his truck, retrieved a tool and got the power fully back within a few minutes.
By himself getting the restaurant ready before opening on Wednesday, September 20, White said he and his crew were ready for an expected onslaught as there was pent-up demand for his barbecue, at least according to Facebook posts.
“We’re going to get stomped on today but we’re ready,” he said before opening on Wednesday. “I’ve got lots of food. We stayed closed yesterday (Tuesday) just to get everything ready and to get it right for full capacity. Hopefully, it will keep going.”
Later on Wednesday, White reported that the expected crowd materialized.
“Did I ever tell you all HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU ALL. THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT,” White wrote Wednesday afternoon on Facebook.
However, the small-business owner said he’s got another battle going on and that’s with his insurance company that has initially denied his claim.
“It doesn’t look like insurance is going to pay me for the loss of sales because they don’t cover above-ground transmission lines,” White said. “Is there any place in the world that has underground from the power company to their place? I’m underground on my property, but the pole comes to my property (with above-ground lines).
“I’m going to fight them because I’ve paid them for 14 years and never filed a claim. I want to cover the business. That’s the whole idea, to be able to stay open.”
An extended version of this story appears in the Friday, September 22, issue of The Apopka Chief.
