Sea Change

Since its inception in 1938, North Fort Myers' Shell Factory has survived a brush with bankruptcy, two major fires and a devastating hurricane. And it almost collapsed in 1982, when Interstate 75 was extended south, diverting traffic that had formerly passed right by the attraction on U.S. 41.

But the Shell Factory has not only survived; it's grown and prospered under the leadership of Tom Cronin Sr., whose investment group, FLORDECO, has spent more than $5 million to revamp the business since paying $1.6 million for it seven years ago.

Cronin says he was determined to transform the vintage Florida attraction into a year-round family entertainment center. By all indications, he's succeeded. Attendance has grown significantly, from some 250,000 in 1996 to more than 780,000 last year; the business is now in the black, finally posting a profit in the first quarter of this year; and in 2000, the Lee County Horizon Council, as part of Industry Appreciation Week, honored Cronin for reviving the historic attraction.

The Shell Factory was born in 1938, when Harold and Mildred Crant began selling shells from the porch of their Bonita Springs home. Soon they opened a store; but in 1951, a fire destroyed it, and the Crants moved the Shell Factory from Bonita Springs to its current site in North Fort Myers. In 1955, they began an outdoor advertising campaign, which eventually grew to more than 100 billboards promoting the attraction from Georgia to Alabama to Miami.

In 1960, Hurricane Donna destroyed the building; and the owners rebuilt. In those days, U.S. 41 was the only direct route from Tampa to Miami, and the Shell Factory was a popular stop with tourists. But in 1982, the extension of Interstate 75 through Fort Myers took traffic off U.S. 41. At the same time, several warehouse fires hurt the business. In 1983, the Shell Factory filed for bankruptcy. Its reorganization was approved in December of 1986 after a two-and-a-half year battle in the courts, but the attraction continued to struggle.

In 1997, Cronin's FLORDECO bought the Shell Factory from a New Jersey insurance company that had come to ownership through foreclosure. "I had a feeling I could revive it," Cronin says. Under his leadership, the attraction has expanded its offerings and increased attendance. With a total attendance of nearly 800,000 in 2003, the Shell Factory is now the region's most popular attraction, pulling in almost twice as many visitors a year as the second local leading attraction, the Edison & Ford Winter Estates. And attendance keeps increasing, says Cronin, jumping by 20 percent in 2004. "We've passed Graceland. They'll do about 600,000," he says.

Cronin has a long history of doing business in South-west Florida. He owned Cronin Distributors, a family beer distributing company, for 40 years before selling it about a decade ago. His company also developed Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center and a number of doctors' offices.

When the Shell Factory went on the market, he was intrigued by the idea of turning it around. Even the insurance company that owned it didn't have much confidence in the future of the property, agreeing to sell it to Cronin's group for about half what was owed in loans. "I promised them if they made the deal, I'd put so much money in it," Cronin says.

Originally a place for visitors to view and buy souvenir shells, the Shell Factory today claims to have the world's largest collection of rare shells, sponges, coral, fossils and sea- life specimens. But Cronin was convinced that "people want more than just shells." He has aggressively and imaginatively expanded its offerings, making the Shell Factory a multifaceted entertainment, dining and shopping experience.

He started by transforming a dilapidated video arcade into a small seafood restaurant, Capt'n Fishbones, which he's expanded several times. This year, Cronin totally revamped the restaurant and its menu again. Now one of the largest restaurants in the region, it seats 550 inside and has a 250-seat patio, where live entertainment is offered most evenings, and karaoke attracts a crowd of regulars on Sundays. Other dining venues on the property include a new Subway restaurant-a hit with locals, Cronin says-and Rosie's Gourmet Fudge, which offers snack items.

The Shell Factory also hosts meetings, weddings and other special events, with facilities that can accommodate several hundred people and include a state-of-the-art sound system, with 10-foot TV screens for video or power-point presentations.

The centerpiece of the Shell Factory, however, is an enormous retail operation, which was a deteriorating dollar store when Cronin's group bought the property. Today the newly renovated 65,000 square feet of retail space includes not only shells and souvenirs but a candle shop, stationery store, jewelry store, and holiday decoration boutiques. Items range from inexpensive to pricey. For example, customers can buy three shells for a quarter or blown glass pieces in the $500-$700 range.

Cronin also revived another longtime local attraction, a water-and-light presentation formerly known as "Waltzing Waters" and brought it to the property.

Coming next: "Nature Park at the Shell Factory," which will replace an existing park that's been run by Charlotte County's Octagon Wildlife Sanctuary. The sanctuary leased the property from the Shell Factory to display animals it had rescued, but for the $8 admission price, visitors left unsatisfied and didn't return, Cronin says.

"We're going to be spending a half a million dollars renovating the park," he says. It will be designed by zoo architect Detter Reudi, longtime director of the national zoo in Switzerland, and will include exhibits, interactive activities such as a petting zoo, an eco-lab, a food vending area, and a new playground.

Cronin believes the Shell Factory's comeback has been fueled by the explosive growth of North Fort Myers and Cape Coral. Much of his strategy has been to create attractions and diversions that will lure in the ever-increasing population of locals on a year-round basis.

Cronin says he has developed an emotional attachment to the business, which he sees as creating a place for people "to have family bonding." "I'm gearing down now, getting older," he says. "This is my first love right now. I want to see this thing grow."

A Shell of a Time: The Shell Factory over the years.

1938 Harold and Mildred Crant begin selling shells in Bonita Springs.

1943 Harold Crant begins an aggressive outdoor advertising program using sets of series signs.

1951 Fire destroys the store in Bonita Springs, and the Shell Factory moves to its current location in North Fort Myers.

1955 Beginning of an outdoor advertising program of billboards from Gainesville to Miami, which grows to more than 100 billboards in the Southeastern United States.

1960 Hurricane Donna destroys the Shell Factory building.

1979 Crant-Heisz Enterprises buys The Shell Factory from Harold Crant's son-in-law, Richmond Powell, for $600,000.

1980 Gary Link records The Shell Factory Billboard Blues.

1981 Warehouse fire.

1982 Fantasy Isles Theme Park opens.

1982 Interstate 75 takes traffic from U.S. 41.

1983 Shell Factory files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

1997 Thomas R. Cronin, managing partner of FLORDECO, purchases the Shell Factory from a New Jersey-based insurance company that had come to ownership through foreclosure.

1997 Nov. 14 is designated by Gov. Lawton Chiles as "Shell Factory Day" in Florida.

1997 Cronin revives a historic water, light and music presentation, "Waltzing Waters."

2001 Cronin's group remodels and expands restaurant.

2000 The Octagon Animal Showcase opens.

2004 Work begins on a new nature park and botanical gardens.