Furniture store to rebuild after fire

Jan. 14, 2009

It's out with the old and in with the new as Renaud's Countrywide Furniture gets ready to rebuild.

On Aug. 25, fire damaged the store on King George Highway and forced staff to move to a new location.

Store manager Johanne LeBouthillier said the old building doesn't look that bad from the outside, but most of the damage was at the back of the store where smoke and water lead to mold.

"Everything had to be stripped to the wood if we were renovating."

LeBouthillier said they felt if they renovated the old store it might not get rid of the smoke smell and added they wanted a new look for the new store.

"We're going to tear everything down and restart fresh."

The August fire was one of the biggest in the city last year. Smoke engulfing the roof of the King George Highway location could been seen from the Centinnial Bridge.

It was big it required several stations to respond as fire fighter's struggled on a hot and humid day to deal with the blaze. Paramedics were on hand to deal with fire fighters overcome with the heat of the day and the blaze.

Damage to the back section of the building was extensive. At one point a section of the roof collapsed and a exterior wall had to be ripped open to provide access for fire fighters.

Renaud's Countrywide Furniture has been operating out of Northumberland Square Mall since September and made the final decision to build a new store last week, she said.

"Everybody's so excited."

LeBouthillier said the new store will offer more selection and customers who heard about it are looking forward to the new building.

"They're all excited for us."

The new building will be more of an open concept with a higher roof, unlike the old building that was separated in the middle, she said.

"It's going to be a very different look."

LeBouthillier said they can't wait to get into the new building and have been struggling during their time in the mall.

"It's been harder for sure."

They are using the old foundation for the new building and LeBouthillier said she estimates they will be moved in by June.

"We should start demolition in a few weeks."

Investigators had three possible causes for the fire, but don't know which it was, LeBouthillier said.

"They're not sure yet."