This past Saturday, NJ’s Grocery store finally reopened after a fire that ravaged the building in June.
“It feels good,” Sam Chungh said. “The fire was an electrical shortage.”
By having everything fixed, Chungh also completed the extra storage he had planned, along with other projects.
The June 10th fire, which caused the store to be closed for over six months, was contained within an hour and a half of the fire crew's arrival at the store. Crews from the Grand Traverse Band Fire and Rescue, Glen Lake, and Elmwood helped contain the fire.
Chungh continued to pay his full-time employees while the work on the grocery store was in progress, but some employees used resources like the Leelanau Christian Neighbor food bank.
Employee Deborah Freshour was happy to be back to the store but knows there is work to be done to get the store back to being fully functional.
“Overwhelming but good,” Freshour said. “We’re working to get everything stocked, and we don’t know when we will be able to sell alcohol and the lottery.”
Although NJ’s Grocery is unable to sell alcohol, they are working on stocking their shelves with other groceries and other pre-made foods.
