On November 4th of last year, Maples Market in Fort Walton Beach officially opened for business. Owner Jody Maples was hopeful that he could fill the void of not having a small produce and seafood shop in Fort Walton Beach.

Maples Market was immediately a hit with the local community. But 4 months later, the pandemic was upon us and the shut downs began.

“This store was one of my best performing stores,” said Maples on Friday afternoon. “As far as a new store goes, it was the best one.”

According to Maples, once the shut downs began, there just wasn’t enough support after that.

“I kept putting my money in to try and stay open,” continued Maples. “But I couldn’t get any financial assistance because I hadn’t been in business for at least 12 months.”

Jody has been moving all of his equipment out of the store this week, but not all is lost.

“I’m opening a new store in January in Andalusia, Alabama, and that’s where all of this equipment is going,” he said. “And I’m still going to be part of this community.”