Samantha Stetzer/Winonan

Nearly two months ago, a fire ravaged its way through downtown Winona, damaging multiple buildings, crippling businesses and leaving students and community members with nowhere to live.

Now, the first few affected businesses have begun to reopen.

Erin Gervais, an employee at Sole Sport, the first retail store damaged by the fire to re-open its doors, came back to work.

“We have a great staff,” Gervais said. “That helped us open quickly in just 37 days.”

Sole Sport is an outdoor recreation store, now located across the street from its original location. Gervais said the store also has a great relationship with Blooming Grounds, a nearby coffee house also affected by the fire.

“They bring in a lot of downtown traffic,” Gervais said. “There has been a noticeable difference in downtown traffic, but there has been a good response to opening the store.”

The original building that housed Sole Sport had too much water and smoke damage, so owner Torry Moore decided to move the business across the street to the old Verizon Wireless store. The old building was eventually knocked down.

“I believe that this process has been simpler than cleaning up a home after a fire,” Gervais said. “In a home, you may not know exactly what you have lost, but in a business, you do. And we have great vendors who got the product out to us immediately.”

Some businesses have not been so lucky.

According to Kira Harman, an employee at Blooming Grounds’ mall location, the downtown coffee house is currently in limbo.

“There is not a lot of progress yet,” Harman said. “They are waiting to hear about the status of the building.”

Harman said they are aiming to reopen their downtown location in January.

Established in 2003, Blooming Grounds has been a popular part of the downtown shopping scene. The mall location opened in the early summer of 2012. For Blooming Grounds, having another location has been a saving grace.

“I know my boss is very thankful that she has this other location,” Harmon said. “Sales have doubled at the mall, and it would have been difficult for her if she only had the downtown one.”

Owner Amy Jo Marks is still staying busy.

Along with catering, baking, ordering and all the other duties that follow an owner, she is also trying to reopen her original downtown store.

On top of that, she is also trying to reopen Pretty Things on Third, where she is a co-owner.

Pretty Things on Third is also experiencing delays.

“We don’t want to move from the location we are at,” Harman said of the possibility of Blooming Grounds having to move.

Harman said she and Blooming Grounds are glad their neighbor Sole Sport is reopening.

“We are happy for them,” she said. “I know my boss is friends with the owner and is very happy that they are reopening again.”

The employees of the downtown Blooming Grounds have started working at the mall area, with the insurance paying for them.

“I think my boss handled it very well,” Harman said. “And it has been a lot busier here in the mall.”

Harman was supposed to begin working at the downtown location in October.

While they say it has not been easy, both businesses are remaining positive, and they are thankful for the community support. Both businesses also credit their hardworking staff and willpower to rebuild their once prosperous businesses.

“The community has been tremendous,” Gervais said. “They have been really supportive in our efforts.”

Contact Samantha at [email protected]