HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2016-09-21, Page 22 News Record • Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Store owners face repercussions of downtown fire
Justine Alkema
Clinton News Record
There were two stores
directly affected by the fire in
downtown Clinton around
three weeks ago - Made in
Huron and Her Majes-Tea's
Room.
Sandy Garnet, owner of
Made in Huron, has been able
to very quickly open up shop
in a new, temporary location.
It is certainly much smaller
than their previous spot, but
for now, they are making it
work.
Each of the store's vendors
is able to have a small space
in the store while their other
products are available by
special order. They are also
still able to do alterations
and dry cleaning in their
new location.
However most of the items
in the store at the time of the
fire were destroyed due to
smoke damage. This means
that many vendors must "start
fresh': Luckily with the sea-
sons changing, some vendors
still had their fall and winter
items stored away.
Garnet said her vendors
Made in Huron's new, temporary location at 8 King Street, Clinton.
were "shocked at first; a few
had to pull out because they
lost too much of an invest-
ment and have nothing to
replace it with. Some may try
to buildup and join us again,
but most are glad to see we
have a small place, and that
we'll still be visible within
Clinton."
As for when and if they
will be able to move back,
Justine Alkema Clinton News Record
there are a lot of hoops to go
through first.
"We're waiting for the
engineer's report and to hear
back from the insurance
company," said Garnet. As
for the fate of the historic
building, Garnet said, "Our
hope is they can rebuild. So
far, I'm optimistic."
She says rebuild because
the building will be in need
of many repairs. First of all,
the roof is destroyed. Garnet
expressed concern that if it
rains, it will seep into the
building, potentially causing
mold. The owner of the
building has expressed that
their goal is to fix the roof as
soon as possible for this
reason.
As for other repairs, there
will be many. It will likely
have to be completely gutted
from the ground up.
The other store affected by
the fire was Majes-Teas's
Room owned by Sofia Brind-
ley, who has lived in Clinton
her whole Life. Like Made in
Huron, much of what was in
the store was destroyed by
smoke damage. Also, since it
is mostly consignment
items, it is not covered by
insurance.
Brindley sells wedding
dresses, and at the time of
the fire, she had 35 new wed-
ding dresses in her store.
They were damaged by
smoke, but with dry clean-
ing, were still wearable. She
marked them all down to a
very inexpensive $100,
opened the store for two
days, and sold 23 of them in
out of her store which had
no hydro at the time.
Brindley is unsure about
the future of the store, but will
definitely continue doing
princess tea parties for birth-
days, anniversaries, etc.
The fire was particularly
devastating for Brindley as the
store is only a year old, and in
that time she has put so much
hard work into making the
store what itis today.
"I was devastated about the
fire," said Brindley. "My sister
and I did so much [in the
store]; she made all my tutus.
That's what's most frustrating,
all the work that went into it. A
lot of personal effort was
destroyed."
"Things could have been so
much worse. I know that it's
just material things. But the
person who did this, it was a
selfish, selfish act because
they don't know how much
people have put into these
stores. I just hope they find
who did it. It's a huge loss:'
Justine Alkema Clinton News Record
Students attending Ridgetown and Fanshaw programs at REACH were
welcomed with a free dinner on September 14 courtesy the Clinton and
Central Huron BIA along with Central Huron Council.
THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY MONDAY OCTOBER 10
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THWISDAY
Office
Albert
Clinton
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October
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Closed Monday
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