Chamber celebrates 45 years of Pinocchio’s with ribbon-cutting
Forty-five years have seen Pinocchio’s Original Italian Ice Cream through four owners and three locations since 1980. The most recent and longest-running owners, Tom and Donna Puma and daughter Stephanie, celebrated the occasion on June 13 with a SanCap Chamber ribbon-cutting and their trademark sweet treats at the Periwinkle Place Shops on Sanibel — 18 years after they purchased the business.
“We consider ourselves both lucky and blessed to remain a part of this Sanibel culinary scene tradition,” Donna Puma said. “It is a close community that we are proud to be a part of for so many years. Our family retained all the traditional unique recipes while adding our own recipes to the repertoire, which has grown to over 200 flavors. We also made great strides in adding unique flavor profiles as we reintroduced Italian gelato to the brand.”
During COVID, the Pumas moved the Pinocchio’s longtime storefront at the island’s east end to an off-island location to serve as their production lab — close to the HealthPark Medical Center and its power grid — to mitigate spoilage in the event of power failures. However, they missed the heart of the island community and opened another shop at Periwinkle Place in 2021.
Less than a year later, Hurricane Ian flooded the shop with 6 feet of storm surge and, like so many other island business owners, they mourned the loss everything. After immediately getting in contact with chamber President and Chief Executive Officer John Lai and Periwinkle Place landlord Ben Dahlmann, the Pumas went into recovery mode.
“The support we received from both of them was something we will never forget,” she said. “There was something so comforting, as chaotic as the situation was, that we realized we were not alone. The Dahlmann family and maintenance staff made the demo removal seamless and allowed us to focus on the actual rebuild. John, Aaron, Jade and Alex (at the chamber) were always available to offer support and encouragement while updating us with programs made available to businesses recovering from their losses.”
Puma also credits local nonprofits like the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association and Charitable Foundation of the Islands for making efforts financially feasible to rebuild and reopen the shop in February 2024. Hurricane Milton last September posed another setback, but Pinocchio’s recovered quickly to reopen two weeks later.
“Then there were the customers,” she said. “Islanders frequented our Fort Myers shop, and it became a place for many who had secured off-island temporary housing to reconnect with each other. The support and love we received from everyone is not something we take for granted.”
“I was definitely one of those happy customers when Pinocchio’s reopened post-Ian,” Lai said. “We were all happy for a ‘fix’ of the Sanibel Krunch, Dirty Sand Dollar and other unique sundaes that have melted our hearts for decades. Congratulations to the Pumas for carrying on such sweet traditions.”
Pinocchio’s Original Italian Ice Cream is at 2075 Periwinkle Way, Suite 33, Sanibel.