Some forced to close doors for more
It’s been a long month for Linda Baxa and her daughter, Jennifer Dodson, after a fire at nearby East Island Chinese Restaurant on March 24 caused thousands of dollars of damage at their store, It’s All About You Interiors, and forced them to temporarily close their doors.
“We thought we would be able to open a couple of days after the fire, but we have been closed for more than a month and we are just now re-opening,” Baxa said. “It’s been horrible and exhausting.”
Several other businesses in The Village Shopping Center in Boutte were affected as well, and some won’t be coming back, according to Kay Pizzolato, who manages the center for owner Dr. Peter Glaser.
Verizon Wireless has chosen not to reopen, and the owners of East Island Chinese Restaurant will not be allowed back, Pizzolato said.
“We have several people who want to open up a chinese restaurant in that spot, but the former owners will not be back because it was their negligence that caused the electrical fire,” she said.
Smoke traveled up the rafters and to the other businesses in the center, which means that ceilings, air conditioning and insulation all had to be replaced.
East Island itself was completely gutted, Pizzolato said, while Tropical Fish and More lost “100 percent” of its inventory and will reopen in the former Verizon Wireless store.
Tri-Parish Financial and BEA Medical Billing, Inc. were able to remain open throughout the ordeal.
“At the stores that offer a service, we were able to make repairs at night while they were closed,” Pizzolato said. “They were able to stay in business, but it was tough for our two retail stores, It’s All About You and Tropical Fish and More.”
Pizzolato added that their insurance company has been part of the reason for the delay in reopening some of the stores, but that the contractors they have worked with have been “wonderful.”
Baxa said that the fire caused about $30,000 in damages to It’s All About You and that she and her daughter had to remove everything from the store so that it could be repaired and repainted.
“Kay and Dr. Glaser have really bent over backwards for everyone at this shopping center and both have just been great to us,” Dodson said. “I don’t know what we would have done without them.”
And even though most of the merchandise was ruined, they both remain optimistic about the future.
“We want everyone to know that we never went anywhere and we are not going anywhere…we are coming back bigger and better than ever,” Baxa said.
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