7 Treasure Coast businesses that have been here longer than you might think

The Treasure Coast feels new. In many places, it is.

Entire neighborhoods have appeared within a generation. Commercial corridors keep pushing west. New residents arrive every day.

But look beneath that growth and you’ll find businesses whose histories stretch back decades. Some were here before Port St. Lucie looked anything like the city it is today. Others helped establish industries that are now part of the Treasure Coast’s economic identity.

Here are seven worth knowing.

1. Shell Bazaar, Port St. Lucie area

Serving travelers since 1953

Long before Port St. Lucie became one of Florida’s largest cities, George and Jean Williams came down from Ormond Beach and opened the Shell Bazaar on U.S. 1.

According to the business, there was very little between Fort Pierce and Stuart in those days. The couple built the store with living quarters upstairs, where they raised their two daughters, and put an enormous replica conch shell out front.

The Shell Bazaar says it’s the oldest family-owned retail business in the county still operating from its original location. Their daughter Christine owns it today, with day-to-day operations run by manager Dylan Kelley, who joined in 2011.

More than seven decades later, the giant shell is still hard to miss. Think about how much change that business has watched pass its front door.

2. Piper Aircraft, Vero Beach

In Vero Beach since 1957

Piper Aircraft dates to 1937. Its relationship with Vero Beach came later: Piper says aviation engineer Fred Weick established its development center and manufacturing plant there in 1957.

The company is still there. Piper says every Piper aircraft is now designed, engineered and built at its Vero Beach campus.

That’s decades of aircraft manufacturing on the Treasure Coast, and a direct line between Vero Beach and airplanes flying around the world.

3. Pursuit Boats, Fort Pierce

Building in Fort Pierce since 1983

Pursuit launched its brand in 1977. Six years later it built a dedicated 75,000-square-foot factory in Fort Pierce, in the middle of what the company calls one of the largest boatbuilding regions in the world.

Fort Pierce has been Pursuit’s manufacturing home ever since. The operation has expanded repeatedly and now covers more than 430,000 square feet as Pursuit approaches its 50th anniversary.

4. Maverick Boat Group, Fort Pierce

More than 25 years in St. Lucie County

Maverick Boat Group is another longtime part of the Treasure Coast’s marine manufacturing story. The St. Lucie County EDC lists Maverick among manufacturers that have operated in the county for more than 25 years.

Today the company builds Maverick, Hewes, Pathfinder and Cobia boats in Fort Pierce. (Read the full story.)

Together with Pursuit and others, companies like Maverick helped turn boatbuilding into a genuine local industry rather than an isolated operation.

5. Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Company, Fort Pierce

A longtime Treasure Coast manufacturer

Fort Pierce isn’t only known for boats. The region’s agricultural history also produced food and beverage manufacturers.

Natalie’s Orchid Island Juice Company is on the St. Lucie County EDC’s list of manufacturers that have operated locally for more than 25 years. The Natalie’s name travels much farther than the Treasure Coast today, but its roots are here.

6. A-1 Industries of Florida, Fort Pierce

More than 25 years of building components

Growth creates visible construction. Behind it are companies making the pieces builders need.

A-1 Industries of Florida is another company the EDC identifies as operating in the county for more than 25 years. The Fort Pierce company makes building components, the kind of business most residents never deal with directly, even though its work is tied to the growth happening all around them.

7. TAMCO Group, Port St. Lucie

A longtime manufacturing presence

TAMCO Group is also on the EDC’s list of manufacturers with more than 25 years in St. Lucie County. Its Port St. Lucie facility makes and distributes lighting and electrical products.

Companies like TAMCO rarely get the attention given to a new store opening. But longevity in manufacturing tells its own story. Businesses don’t operate for decades without getting through recessions, changing technology, competition, workforce challenges and enormous changes in the communities around them.

Longevity deserves more attention

There’s a natural tendency in local media to focus on what’s new. New restaurant. New development. New store. New employer.

We’ll cover plenty of that. But THE 772 also wants to ask: who was already here?

Which companies survived? Which adapted? Which passed from one generation to the next? Which watched Port St. Lucie grow from almost nothing? Which helped build Fort Pierce’s marine industry? Which quietly employed local families for decades?

A business surviving 25, 40 or 70 years is not old news. It’s a story.

There are many more of them around the Treasure Coast. If you know one, tell us about it.

Sources: Shell Bazaar, Piper Aircraft, Pursuit Boats, St. Lucie County EDC, Manufacturing, Trade & Industry Development.