When the Lake Wales Guide directory first went up, a meaningful number of downtown businesses had no website on file at all — just an address, a phone number and, if you were lucky, a hand-drawn Facebook page that you could only find if you already knew exactly what to search for. That state of affairs is entirely typical for small Florida main streets, where the Facebook page often functions as the de facto company website, where the chamber-of-commerce URL is frequently buried three navigation clicks deep on a site that was last redesigned in 2014, and where the actual phone number to reach the owner is taped to the inside of the front door and not posted anywhere on the internet. The directory has now finished a second verification pass that closes nearly all of those gaps.
In the restaurants and coffee category, Melanie's Seafood Company is now linked to its active Facebook page, Lady B's Tea Parlour is linked to the Facebook page that operates as her booking channel, The Thirsty Dragon Tavern is wired to its proper domain at thirstydragonpub.com, and Market Place Cafe is connected to its chamber profile page. In the retail and boutique category, G's Vintage Market is now linked to its active Facebook page, Kathryn's Christian Books is linked to kathrynschristianbooks.com, Cocoa Cake Studio is linked to cocoabakestudio.com, On the Avenue Boutique and Gifts is linked to ontheavenue.boutique, Sew Creative is linked to sewcreativefabricsandmore.com, and Natural Roots Beauty Bar is linked to its UENI storefront. Hillcrest Elementary's correct street address, 1051 State Road 60 East, has been confirmed and added to the education and schools section.
What is still outstanding is the long tail. The next verification sweep covers industry, citrus growers, packing houses, and the assisted-living and skilled-nursing facilities that almost never appear in a Google search but that every long-time Lake Wales resident can name from memory. Those entries take longer to verify, because the most reliable source for many of them is a phone call to a front desk during business hours rather than any indexable web page. If you run a Lake Wales business and your listing is wrong, missing, or attributed to an old phone number that you no longer answer, send a note to jason@backtier.com. Corrections ship the same week they arrive.