Grocery, deli destroyed by fire reopens

Aug. 16--Bennington grocery, deli destroyed by fire reopens

BENNINGTON -- When fire struck Westside Ventures deli and grocery store in March, firefighters were able to stop the flames from extending beyond the kitchen, but the heat caused considerable damage elsewhere.

ONLY ONE QUESTION

"There was never really a question that we wanted to reopen. The question was, could we."

-- Lori Wilson, co-owner, Westside Ventures

"The Coors Light sign in the front window was melted, the cappuccino machine melted, the ceiling fan melted -- the plastic blades were all pointing down," said Lori Wilson, who owns the business with her husband, Gabe. "The firefighters said it was about 1,200 degrees at waist high."

"When they let us back in, there were still coffee cups on tables where people had left them," Gabe said. "But the cups were melted. It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen."

It didn't take long for Gabe and Lori to decide to rebuild, and the store reopened two weeks ago.

The Wilsons plan a grand opening celebration from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.Aug. 23, with free doughnuts for breakfast and free pizza for lunch, along with prize drawings and gift certificate giveaways.

"There was never really a question that we wanted to reopen," Lori said. "The question was could we."

While insurance covered repairs to the building, it wasn't enough to also cover the contents.

Community members help

"We did the demolition -- and a lot of community members helped -- to save some money," Lori said.

Another hurdle was that the store they'd purchased three years earlier was the couple's only source of income.

A friend set up a website to accept donations from community members, and that raised enough to pay for a few months of living expenses.

"We had no other source of income -- this is how we lived," Lori said. "The donations definitely helped us get by for a couple of months, honestly."

The hardest part of the past several months was "not having this to go to every day," she said. "We were used to being here 12 hours a day, six days a week."

"We spent days sanding the floors," Gabe said. "The floor are about the only thing left from before the fire. We were waiting for insurance, and we had nothing but time."

Only grocery in town

Westside Ventures has been open in Bennington for nearly 20 years and is the town's only grocery store; the next-closest store is 10 miles away in Minneapolis.

Since the store reopened, Gabe said, "We've had a lot of people back saying they're glad we're open. A lot of people didn't realize how handy we were if they needed a half-gallon of milk, or a stick of butter."

Officials determined the fire started in one of the chicken broasters in the kitchen, which shorted out.

"They were really old," Gabe said. "The warranty on them expired 30 years ago."

-- Reporter Mike Strand can be reached at 822-1418 or by email at [email protected].

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