After a rough last few months, Fabricland is back in business in North Battleford.
They are now open at their new and permanent location at 872 - 103rd St., using the entrance that faces Railway Avenue.
The location opened last Thursday after a hectic period of about three weeks in which staff restocked the shelves and got the store organized.
“They’ve been putting in a lot of sweat and tears,” said Lois Wilkie, owner of Fabricland, about the staff’s efforts to get the store up and running.
Even some regular customers from the former location came by to volunteer with painting the inside of the new store and helping set up.
Plans were to put a new “Fabricland” sign up outside and to finish whatever work is remaining at the store. There were still some more windows to put in and fixtures still to be put up.
A grand opening is planned for November.
Fabricland was one of the prime casualties of the fire that ravaged downtown North Battleford in the early hours of July 23.
The fire originated at the Bargain Shop located next door to Fabricland on the corner of 12th Avenue and 101st Street.
The Bargain Shop was engulfed by the fire and was completely destroyed and demolished. Firefighters were fortunate to save Fabricland’s building from a similar fate. Unfortunately, the product line took a direct hit.
While most of the smoke and water damage to Fabricland was in the basement area, smoke still got into the main store.
“The smoke damage was everywhere, it was the whole store,” said Wilkie. “Because it was right next door, it did come in.”
Almost the entire product line was lost due to smoke damage, though Wilkie said there was insurance to cover it.
A sign was put up at the location to indicate it was closed until further notice, much to the dismay of loyal customers who were anxious for news about whether it would return.
The owner started looking into locations and found a number of options were available, though some were on the pricey side.
“This was the perfect spot for us,” said Wilkie, pointing to the rent and the general location as factors. Wilkie said Fabricland had been in that location before about nine years ago.
The stock at the store is almost entirely brand new, with the only exception being a few fixtures that were completely cleaned up with all the smoke removed.
The good news is the staff was all able to move over to the new store.
“Everybody was able to keep their jobs,” said Wilkie. “They stuck by my side, thank goodness.”
Her message to residents about the new location is to “come in and check it out,” whether you need zippers or thread or whatever product you are looking for. “Especially the school kids, they need their fabric for their projects,” said Wilkie.
Overall, she is overwhelmed by the community support.
“Everyone has been very happy to see us back and open,” said Wilkie. “We were happy to be back because we missed everybody just as much as they missed us, probably. Maybe we missed them more.”
