Corey Avenue Starts Its Season This Weekend, and the Block Looks Different Than It Did Two Falls Ago

"A year ago we opened while half the beach was still gutting drywall," Cat Lepetit told Tampa Bay Beacons ahead of her shop's anniversary. "The people who walked through that door anyway are the reason we're still here."

Her store, Sun Drunk, opened at 409 Corey Ave. on Sept. 19, 2025. Before that, the business sold only at farmers markets and festivals. Two weeks ago it held a free three-day party for its first anniversary. Sun Drunk is one example of how Corey Avenue has changed since Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Shop owners rebuilt the street one storefront at a time, and the big physical changes are still on paper. This weekend starts the busy season, and it's the first full fall with that rebuilt lineup.

Six addresses that changed in the last fifteen months

Most of the change is in the 300 and 400 blocks, within a few doors of each other. WFLA reported on Aug. 19, 2025 that most Corey Avenue businesses had reopened after Helene. Here is what has happened since.

Most of the names on that list chose this street on purpose. Sail Market had already moved to Gulfport and came back, holding a ribbon cutting to mark the return. Category 36 lost its original lease to hurricane damage and found new space at 348 instead of leaving the street. Fellas Vinoir opened this June, after the busiest stretch of the recovery. That puts an espresso bar and wine lounge at 344, a few numbers down from Category 36 at 348.

Not every space came back. Chill flooded during Helene, and owner Elizabeth Nowak told WFLA she would not reopen the wine cafe next to Elizabeth's BARtique. Chill itself is on this month's Taste of the Beaches list at 357 Corey Ave., so the restaurant is back in the season's lineup.

The Beach Theatre is the oldest building in this group. It was built in 1939, closed in 2012 and then sat for more than a decade, decaying and taking storm damage. Hannah Hockman and her family bought it in February 2024. When she reopened it in July 2025, she added code updates, much stronger air conditioning, a bigger stage and a cabaret space for live shows. That cabaret space shapes the theater's December schedule, which is covered below.

The Sunday Market switches to its winter hours tomorrow

The Corey Ave Sunday Fresh Market runs year-round, but its hours change with the season. Summer hours were 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Starting Sunday, Oct. 4, the market runs 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every week through May 30, 2027. If you're used to arriving early, you'd find vendors still setting up.

The market fills the 300 block with more than 100 vendors selling produce, baked goods, jewelry, art and home goods, plus food trucks serving breakfast and lunch. Florida Penguin Productions handles vendor registration and scheduling. Parking is free on Sundays at the library, at City Hall and on the street. The SunRunner and Beach Trolley also stop near the market.

On Sunday, Oct. 4, you can get to the beach before the market opens. The city is hosting a free sea-oat planting at Upham Beach from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., meeting at 6850 Beach Plaza. The planting ends 30 minutes before the market opens under its new hours.

The fall calendar, in date order

Corey Avenue's events mostly happen on the same few blocks as the storefronts above. Here is the calendar through December:

1. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 3–4. The Corey Avenue Art & Craft Festival is centered at 363 Corey Ave. It starts at 10 a.m. both days. The Gabber lists a 5 p.m. close each day, while the Corey Avenue calendar shows 7 p.m. on Saturday, so check before you plan a late visit.
2. Oct. 3–11. Taste of the Beaches sells $10 tickets for restaurant tastings. Participants include Chill at 357 Corey Ave. and Mastry's Brewing Co. at 7701 Blind Pass Road.
3. Friday, Oct. 9. Britain's Finest plays the city's October Concert Series at Horan Park, 7701 Boca Ciega Drive, from 7 to 9 p.m.
4. Saturday, Oct. 17. Corey Avenue holds its third annual Crabs for a Cure from 1 to 8 p.m. The Maryland-style crab feast costs $80 and benefits the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life.
5. Friday, Oct. 30. Sip & Stroll runs from 5 to 8 p.m. It's free and covers shops, restaurants and galleries along the street.
6. Friday, Nov. 27. Another Sip & Stroll runs 5 to 8 p.m., the day after Thanksgiving.
7. Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 5–6. The Corey Ave Holiday Art & Craft Festival is centered at 300 Corey Ave., from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
8. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 18–19. The Beach Theatre premieres A Christmas Caroline: The Musical, which had a staged reading there in September.
9. Friday, Dec. 18. The city's Holiday Boat Parade starts at 6 p.m. A viewing party at Horan Park runs from 6 to 9 p.m. with the Horny Toads, food, beer and wine.

The last two items share a night. On Dec. 18, the musical premieres at 315 Corey Ave. on the same evening as the boat parade and the Horan Park party. If you want both, you'll need to pick a theater performance that doesn't overlap the parade, so check the theater's ticket calendar before buying.

Sip & Stroll only works if the storefronts are open late. In October 2024, much of this street couldn't have hosted it. This month it includes a gallery-and-gift circuit with Sail Market back at 310, Sun Drunk at 409 and a wine lounge at 344.

The bigger changes are still on paper

The work done on the street itself so far is small. The city's May 8, 2026 weekly report said a contractor had finished replacing concrete along the 200 block of Corey Avenue, from 200 to 266, that week. At the Sept. 21 commission meeting, Kim Graves of the Corey Avenue Business Association thanked the city for the new landscaping and presented the association's financial contribution toward it. She described it as a start to transforming downtown. The merchants' group appears in its own materials as the Corey Area Business Association. The merchants are paying toward the landscaping themselves, not just asking the city for it.

The Corey Avenue gateway sign will take longer. A city board discussed it in September, and staff said the replacement sign won't fit the existing median unless the median is rebuilt. That reconstruction is in the city's capital plan for 2028.

The biggest pending change is Corey Landing at the east end of the street. The approved Kolter Urban plan calls for two eight-story buildings with 133 condos and 11,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space. It also includes public waterfront amenities and more than 400 parking spaces, with over 50 of them public. The former Charlie's Transmissions and Blue Parrott buildings on the site have already been torn down. As of Tampa Bay Beacons' May 27, 2026 roundup, Kolter had not announced a groundbreaking, and that report used somewhat different unit and retail figures. The city passed Ordinance 2025-20 on Oct. 28, 2025. Under that ordinance, the density-pool units awarded to the project revert if a building permit isn't obtained within one year of passage. If the approval is appealed and upheld, the year starts when the appeal is dismissed instead. Whether that permit has been issued couldn't be confirmed for this post.

On the 300 block, the storefronts are already filled in for the season. Fellas Vinoir opened in June, Sun Drunk just turned one, the theater's cabaret stage has a December premiere, and the Sunday Market opens at its new 10 a.m. time tomorrow.

Those small storefronts are also part of how a home here gets valued. A buyer weighing a condo or cottage within walking distance of Corey Avenue is weighing a market Sunday, a Sip & Stroll and a block that came back one shop at a time. If you're thinking about what this changing street means for a place near it, Casey Franks is glad to walk through it with you. Let's Connect.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.