Mount Vernon businesses rebuilding following May fire

March 15--MOUNT VERNON -- Insurance covered most of the losses for the owners of Craft Stove and Hansen's Furniture when a May fire gutted the buildings that housed the businesses on West Division Street.

Some things, though, just couldn't be replaced, said Hansen's Furniture co-owner Cindy Gerrior.

"A lot of my husband's personal stuff was in there," Gerrior said. "That's where there was some heaviness to the fire."

The Gerriors and the owner of Craft Stove are ready for a new beginning as construction on a pair of new buildings gets started this week.

Hansen's Furniture will get a 28,000-square-foot two-story building and Craft Stove an 8,000-square-foot building. Both will be built by Chad Fisher Construction.

The Craft Stove building is scheduled to be completed in September and the Hansen's Furniture building in December, said project manager Duke Fisher.

Both buildings will be upgrades for the two businesses, as the buildings that burned down were more than 70 years old, said Craft Stove owner Ben Sousa.

"You have no idea," Sousa said. "The two buildings, they were old and needed constant repairs. There was constant leaking and constant repairs inside."

Since the fire, Sousa has run his business out of two buildings, with one location right behind the burned-down buildings and the other down the street on Highway 536.

Following the fire, Sousa said vendors and staff worked fast to get inventory replenished and business back up to speed.

Sales have been close to on par with normal years.

"Not bad for having everything burned to the ground," Sousa said. "We have the same amount of employees and have actually added 1 1/2 more."

Craft Stove store manager Dean Lovett said working out of two buildings has been challenging.

"It's been the left hand not knowing what the right hand has been doing since the fire," he said. "That's why we are looking forward to moving back into one building."

Rudy Kerkvliet, who owns the Craft Stove property, said insurance covered the old building, but he's spending extra money to build a nicer replacement. He said the investment will be worth it for him and for the community.

"We felt it was important to put that building back up and make that investment back into the west side of Mount Vernon," he said. "The community supported the business for so long. We can't leave a vacant hole there."

The Gerriors, who have owned Hansen's Furniture for about 20 years, moved their business across the street to another building they own and have made things work from that space.

The new building will be a welcome change with the added space and amenities offered by a modern building. It will include a large elevator and the option to split the business space in half in case the Gerriors want to rent or sell space in the future.

"We thought that if we were going to rebuild that we would do it the way we wanted it," Cindy Gerrior said.

She said they are still deciding what they'll do with the building they are currently using when the new one opens.

Though the losses were heartbreaking for the Gerriors, especially losing Don Gerrior's personal mementos such as his mother's belongings and old pictures, Cindy Gerrior said they are eager to move into a new and modern workplace.

"Hopefully something positive will come out of it all," she said. "It will be a nice addition to the west side to at least make it look real nice."

-- Reporter Aaron Weinberg: 360-416-2145, [email protected], Facebook.com/byaaronweinberg

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