HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — The owners of a popular produce stand in southern Hillsborough County have been through it all — even an EF1 tornado that destroyed their produce stand in 2011 couldn’t take them out. The Wolfe family rebuilt, and came back stronger than ever. But now, they’re facing a new potential disaster: the repaving of US-301.  

Getting to Wolfe’s Produce stand in Riverview has never been more difficult thanks to a repaving project.  

“We don’t want to dwell on that. We know it’ll pass and it’ll be better for us and the community as far as the traffic and stuff like that. It’s just getting through it,” said Jeff Wolfe.

It’s part of FDOT’s $21 million US-301 repaving project, and right now, crews are working on the section right in front of Wolfe’s Produce stand. 

“When they were on the other side, it wasn’t as bad, but now we’re really feeling the brunt of it, but they’re moving along good, so we’re pretty positive,” said Wolfe.

This is normally the busy season, but because of the construction, Wolfe says business has taken a huge hit. His customers noticed too, and took it upon themselves to help.

“All of a sudden, it’s like you flipped a switch, and people were all talking about how they had seen posts on Facebook, or the Nextdoor app, or HOA pages, and the Riverview Chamber of Commerce, I couldn’t believe it,” said Wolfe.

Wolfe said while he’s not big on social media, his customers are. They created posts, encouraging everyone to fight the construction traffic and go to Wolfe’s Produce. Their efforts are paying off. 

“It just seemed like every other customer coming in, and it continued on Saturday and Sunday. People coming in, going out of their way to come in because they realize we’re kind of struggling and in a little bit of a tight spot right now,” said Wolfe.

Wolfe knows once the construction is complete, things will be better for everyone. With the support of his loyal customers, Wolfe’s Produce will continue to be a staple in this community for years to come. 

“We plan to stick it out and keep on truckin,” said Wolfe.  

FDOT says the work on that section of US-301 near Wolfe’s Produce should be completed by mid-April.