Hurricane Ernesto caused an estimated $3,000 worth of damage when Category 1 winds tore a metal strip off the garage of Champs Variety Store on Dundonald Street in Hamilton.

Store owner Sharrieff Wales, however, was remaining philosophical.

“That is the cost of doing business,” he said. “I have already called someone about fixing it.”

He thought the money made from sales at his stores, directly before and after Ernesto, probably made up for the loss.

“We were very busy,” he said. “Our Champs Variety store in town usually does better than our one in Sandys, but for the two days of the storm, these stores were almost neck and neck.”

His City of Hamilton customers were lined up outside the store, waiting to get in on Friday. He closed at 8.30pm that night and reopened on Saturday at 7pm.

“The minute we opened there was another line of people outside,” he said. “At one point I counted 32 customers in the store. It is not a big space, maybe 5,000 square feet. Most people were buying food, but alcohol and cigarettes were also top sellers. The tills were going.”

It was much the same for restaurateur Jonathan Correia. After seeing people driving around at 4.30pm on Saturday, he opened Paraquet Restaurant on Middle Road in Paget from 6pm to 10pm.

“We served a lot of burgers,” Mr Correia said. “It was quite an experience. The line of people went out the door and into the parking lot. After being locked in their houses for all that time, people were ready to get out.”

Some customers expressed frustration when they could not get a table inside the restaurant.

After the busy weekend, Mr Correia was feeling done with hurricanes.

“I hope we don’t have any more this year,” he said.

Divots Bar, Grill and Terrace at the Belmont Hills Golf Course was also open soon after Hurricane Ernesto departed.

Manager Michael Sheehy had only just launched a new menu that included vegan options, chicken and beef satay and lamb pita, among other things.

“I never expected to introduce that during a hurricane,” he laughed.

Customers seemed to enjoy the new items.

“They also seemed to like the wi-fi and air conditioning,” he said. “Some people were just trying to get a drink and catch up on texting. Our neighbours behind us and in front of us did not have power. We almost never lose power at the restaurant though, because we are on the main Belmont line that is underground. We had a bit of leaking in the building we are in, but not much. It is well built.”

Mr Sheehy said at some point during the evening there was a wait to get into the restaurant.

“We did a lot of takeout,” Mr Sheehy said. “This often happens during a storm, so we had staffed up for the occasion. We try to be as ready as possible.”

Divots also served breakfast on Sunday at 9am. The golf course, however, did not open until yesterday, so that debris could be cleared away.