TAMPA, Fla. — A Citrus County business owner has a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

What You Need To Know

  •  Sparky's Green Rides was damaged last month by tornadoes

  •  Business owner Ryan DeLarco had just reopened after Hurricane Idalia first damaged the store earlier in the year

  •  DeLarco says customers contributing to his second store helped him rebuild his first store again

Despite his bike shop being destroyed by last month’s tornado, Ryan DeLarco is back open for business. His gears are spinning in excitement over welcoming customers back.

He couldn’t forget how Sparky’s Green Rides looked after a tornado did its damage last month.

“The ceiling was hanging. I got some leaking going on,” DeLarco said. “The whole roof was missing, all the facia, the soffit. This is usually full of 150 bikes at all times, but we had to take everything out so it doesn’t get destroyed by the storm.”

Compare that to now and you can tell he’s put a lot of work into getting things rolling again.

“As you can tell before, when you guys were in here, we had the hole ceiling. The last 10 feet of the ceiling was all hanging down. Had to re-drywall the whole place and get it all re-established. We also added some new paint. Added some new color to the shop,” he said.

This was the second time DeLarco had to rebuild his bike business. Flooding from Hurricane Idalia tried to wash it away earlier in the year, but he says he’s come back better both times.

“We’re about to have a grand opening, but we are officially open at two locations,” he said.

So when it comes to selling bikes in Citrus County, DeLarco says he has a new slogan:

“Ain’t no tornado, hurricane, or flood gonna stop Sparky’s Green Rides.”