KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — It’s been around two months since a fire caused damage and forced several businesses to temporarily close along the 400 block of N. Cedar Bluff Road. On Tuesday, 6 News checked back in with some of those businesses to see how their recovery is going.
A fire broke out on the exterior of a shopping center, causing significant damage. Those affected are looking to bounce back and slowly reopen. One is the family-owned Pastelitos Cuban Bakery, which suffered heavy smoke and water damage and lost an abundance of inventory.
Knoxville tattoo shop owner recounts fleeing business as fire broke out at shopping center
“We had to get a company to go in and really deep clean everything, which they’re still in the process of doing. There is a lot of soot in the walls in the floors, a lot of water trapped and mold growing. It was a very tough month just for myself and my whole family that what happened October 2nd, just not being able to have business or have people come in,” explained Alan Rodriguez, a part owner of Pastelitos.With the family relying on the bakery to financially stay afloat, they have opened a new second location in Bearden while working toward reopening their original shop.
“It’s super relieving and really just awesome to have people come in again and to just get back into my routine and we’re just super excited to just have our pastries back, serve coffee, and to just serve our culture and food to Knoxville again,” added Rodriguez. “Being able to look forward and to really grow, just one step at a time. A third location maybe, but we’re going to focus on these first two and just see where we go from there.”Other businesses are also pushing ahead. Tennessee Rose Tattoo told 6 News it aims to reopen in mid-January, while Barnett Roofing has already returned.“We did have fire damage. We had water damage from the building beside us. Water came in ruin the floors. We had to have all of the flooring ripped out and then we did have significant smoke damage. Luckily, we can kind of work from anywhere and keep going. Guys, we’re still roofing every day doing repairs on roofs. So, we just kept going,” explained Megan Winchester, the office manager at Barnett Roofing.
▶ See more top stories on WATE.com
Pastelitos Cuban Bakery does not have a timeline on the re-opening of the original location yet. As for some of the other businesses, there is still much more work ahead in order to open back up, with some hanging signs reading ‘We will reopen’…