Business Archive

It started with Craigslist and a help-wanted post seeking elves – Santa’s elves.

Yolanda Navarrete, who lives in New Jersey but spends as much time as possible in Navarre each year, decided being an elf sounded fun.

Navarre is set to get two new emergency rooms in the first half of 2021, greatly increasing the access to medical care in an area largely lacking services.

Giving Tuesday filled inboxes and social media feeds with pleas from local and even global nonprofits asking for donations and volunteers.

It’s not been a great year for most small retailers.

Forced closures due to COVID-19 were costly to bottom lines, creating weeks of zero income unless business owners to could move online. Many did not have the capital to do it, and they temporarily shuttered.

Tourism professionals have something to be thankful for this holiday as Thanksgiving vacationers continue to pour into Navarre Beach. After a year plagued by Hurricane Sally and an actual plague, the numbers are comforting.

After a 10-month search, Holley Navarre Water System (HNWS) announced the hiring of a new CEO Nov. 23, and the candidate brings four decades of global experience to the table.

Business is booming at the Navarre Beach Area Chamber of Commerce’s Prado Street offices and it’s more than just the chamber doing business.

Last month, all of the Navarre Beach Chamber Information Center offices were officially rented out, completing the vision for the chamber’s new home.

Dickey’s Barbecue is still coming to Navarre. The opening is just taking longer than expected. There have been a few holdups due to Hurricane Sally and sorting out logistics with the landlord. Managing partner Karen Edwards said they have made some progress on the structural repairs in the kitchen, but still have to work on other parts of the restaurant before it will be ready for the grand opening in the spring of 2021.

The entrance to Santander Estates welcomes residents and visitors under a canopy of oak trees. A sidewalk runs along the shoulder of the road, complete with a bench, doggy potty station and Little Free Library stand.

Resident Lorraine Nagy lives with her family in the first house on the left. They walk their rescue dogs along the sidewalk each day.

Navarre’s first emergency room opened Nov. 5. Baptist Health Care’s new combined urgent care/ER opened its doors to patients.