Three Jefferson City businesses continue to recover after fire and smoke damaged their buildings and inventory last month.
An April 12 fire at 123 E. High St., then the home of Hair Plaza, likely ignited on the beauty supply shop's countertop work area near the back of the store. Hair Plaza experienced severe fire damage, and next-door business Carrie's Hallmark and downstairs Scene One Theatre both sustained smoke damage.
Hair Plaza will relocate to 1704 Missouri Blvd. and should reopen around June, according to DJ Chung, whose parents have owned the business for all of its 15 years in downtown Jefferson City. Other than the move, customers should not expect any changes, he said.
"They're just going to open back up the same shop," Chung said. "They like the community here and there are great customers, and they're looking forward to opening back up."
Structural concerns in Carrie's Hallmark were limited to smoke-damaged ceilings, which will be replaced sometime this month, said owner Carrie Tergin. While the card and gift shop's mainstay - paper products - was unharmed, every soft good in the store had to be taken off the shelves.
"A lot of the inventory's gone, but we're still running," Tergin said. "We've had to send most of our soft goods to an insurance salvager for inventory. Basically, we had to get rid of all our stuffed animals and clothing, and we had quite a bit of that."
Despite the inconvenience, Tergin said she is excited to bring in new merchandise. She has also been selling much of her remaining gift merchandise at clearance prices as part of an "after-fire sale" - "some figurines and things that we'd rather sell than move," Tergin said, noting all items have been professionally cleaned following the fire and all remaining items will have to be moved during the ceiling replacement.
"We've kind of gotten over the worst part of the smoke damage," Tergin said. "Now we want to think about how we can make the store come back better than ever."
Downstairs from Hair Plaza, Scene One Theatre also sustained heavy smoke damage that required new carpet, painting and new furniture. The community black-box theater collected $5,000 in donations through an online fundraiser so it could make the repairs before its next show, "Flowers for Algernon," which opens May 28.
"Scene One has pretty much been restored to where it was before the fire," said Mark Wegman, Scene One Theatre president. "We are so grateful for the various donations."
Know of any business happenings around Jefferson City? Let us know at [email protected].