MOUNT DORA, Fla. — Downtown Mount Dora businesses are worried they will not survive this holiday season. Store owners said business hasn’t been the same since the historic rainfall that caused major flooding in parts of Lake County last month.
“I’m concerned that a lot of people are changing their holiday plans because they think Mount Dora is down and out because of the recent rain,” Amy Becker, the owner of Becker’s Best Shoes, said.
Christmas lights are up, and store doors are open as the Downtown Mount Dora community prepares for the holidays. This is the time she said it would typically be slammed.
“We’re not seeing as many travelers coming into town,” Becker said. “We’re getting calls is it ok? Can we get here? We’re having to do damage control.”
Becker said her sales are down between 20%-30% since the rain in October washed out a portion of Donnelly Street.
She said restaurant and local hotel reservations are down between 30%-40%.
“We have 15 employees,” Becker said. “What happens is we have to start cutting hours.”
The City of Mount Dora said the rebuild engineering phase of the reconstruction on Donnelly is scheduled to begin next week. Leaders said the construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2026.
In the meantime, Becker said there are other simple routes visitors can take.
“You can actually come from 441 to Donnelly then take a quick left on Fiddler, a quick right on Grandview, and a quick right on Limit,” Becker said.
To gain exposure for the area, downtown businesses came together to host an ice cream walk Thursday. You can visit 20 different shops and taste 20 different ice cream flavors. You can purchase a ticket through the Mount Dora Chamber of Commerce.
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