| Shoppers keeping dollars in the Cape BY JL WATSON …"I think as the Cape is growing people are pleased not to have to go to Fort Myers for everything," Lavonne Ellis said. Ellis is a gelato maker at Run Agrounds in Cape Harbour and lives in Cape Coral. As a consumer Ellis said she has always tried to spend her money in Cape Coral but has had to drive to Fort Myers for specialty purchases. With the opening of Uno Chicago Grill, Sports Authority, Belk and Michaels, she doesn't feel the need to cross the bridge and then pay the additional $2 to get back home. "With gas at almost $3.50 a gallon, people want to stay close to home," she said. "Now, if we don't have six reasons to go, we don't go." At the same time, Ellis said she has noticed more customers crossing the bridge from Fort Myers to check out what the Cape has to offer. One group who visited the store last weekend paid the Cape Harbour area a compliment. "They said, we don't even feel like we're in the Cape," Ellis said. "It feels like Naples."…
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