LINCOLN, Maine — Pure positivity. That’s the term Heather Austin uses to describe how her Creative Blooms & More florist shop was able to reopen in a new location on Fleming Street.
“It’s just like we never skipped a beat. Everybody’s back in. Everybody’s helping. With everybody’s help, we are back open and ready to do business,” Austin said last week.
Austin’s West Broadway shop was destroyed in a fire on Jan. 16 that also effectively closed Shooters, a popular pool hall, bar and dance venue. Store assistant and friend Carmen Aquilina credited area residents with helping Austin decide to try again in the wake of the fire.
“I think a lot of people felt very bad for Heather losing her livelihood, her career, but everybody gave her a lot of hope to reopen because they needed her,” Aquilina said. “Everybody wanted her back, and she knew that she was doing right by reopening.”
Austin is leasing the building at 57 Fleming St. She has an option to buy it and is awaiting a building appraisal as part of efforts to get a loan for the purchase. The store’s wiring was entirely redone in 1999, and Austin said she is confident it is fire-safe.
Being the home of a previous florist, the building is a good fit for her efforts. It already had a cooler at the front of the store for flower storage and has plenty of room for displays, Austin said. She also has insured the building against fire. Her old address had no fire insurance.
Her store reopened Feb. 15, the day after Valentine’s Day, but Austin said she was about halfway through stocking the new shop. Juggling the needs of customers with setting up the new store has been a challenge, she said.
She and Aquilina were making corsages and sorting bouquets of flowers for upcoming high school dances Thursday, Feb. 25, and another store worker was doing deliveries. A large shipment of goods had come in earlier in the day as well.
“I’d say it’s going to be about six months before we have the entire establishment the way we want it to be,” Austin said.
But that’s not a complaint, Austin said.
“Everything happens for a reason, and out of the devastation [of the fire] has come pure positivity, so we have to live with how things are now,” she said.
Lincoln Code Enforcement Officer Bruce Arnold said he hopes to discuss the handling of what’s left of the West Broadway building with its owner, Shooters owner David Guthrie, who at last word was working with his insurers to settle damage claims.
“ He has said he wants to rebuild, but I am sure he has to get everything lined up with his insurers,” Arnold said. “I know he wants to get it done as soon as possible, but we don’t have a time frame. When he does come in, he will be coming in with more information.”
Attempts to use social media to contract Guthrie, who has an unlisted telephone number, were unsuccessful.