The woman approached the door of Fizzle-Bean Country Store on Friday morning, passing large signs reading “Grand Reopening, Saturday, March 15, 10 a.m.” Peering inside, she saw activity and pulled lightly on the locked door.
Patty Trebes, co-owner of the store, opened the door with a smile and gently pointed to the signs, telling the would-be patron that, really, the store wasn?t open until the next day.
The incident, Trebes said, has been repeating over and over during the last few days leading up to the four-year-old store?s re-opening today after a January fire and sprinkler-caused flood nearly put them out of business.
“We?ve run over to Subway to get a drink and left the door unlocked,” Trebes said. “When we get back, people are inside, looking around.”
The store and its merchandise have been carefully restored after a Jan. 14 fire caused extensive damage to both. Trebes and her sister and co-owner Colleen Buddemeyer were in the store that night and had just blown out a candle near the store?s register.
“Either an ember off the candle sparked something or a piece of paper blew over and caught on the wick,” Buddemeyer said. “Then a wreath above it caught. I came over with the fire extinguisher but before I could hit it, the sprinklers came on. The fire [damage] was minimal, but the sprinklers ran for 30 minutes.”
Just two months later, the shelves have been restocked with Trebes and Buddemeyer?s signature candles-the heart of the store-as well as wreaths, home items and crafts from local vendors.
Trebes and Buddemeyer said the steady knocks on their door give them hope for a big reopening today.
“We?re not a chain, we?re not Hallmark,” said Buddemeyer. “We?re the only thing like this around, since the country stores at White Marsh closed.”
Buddemeyer and Trebes spent Friday morning bundling giveaway t-shirts for the reopening, assisted by their mother, Virginia Sommers, and employees and friends Erin Ehrlinger, Kaitlin Hurley, and Emily Ritter. The group said their drive to help goes far beyond loyalty to the job.
“It?s not really an employee thing, it?s a family thing,” Ehrlinger said.
