Jewelry store is back in business
If there’s a positive to the October arson fire atop Alexander’s Jewelers, 27 N. Main St., it’s the improved lighting.
The difference “is amazing,” said store manager Ty Pulliam.
“The lighting that was in there was probably 30 years old,” Pulliam said. “Now it’s state-of-the-art, much more efficient.”
And brighter.
The store, at the corner of First and Main for 56 years, had been closed since an Oct. 8 fire started by an arsonist in the building’s upper floor. A passer-by discovered the fire, set in six places in the vacant second story, about 1:30 that morning.
“It mostly damaged stuff no one can see,” Pulliam said, but the store couldn’t remain open during the repairs, which took two months.
Smoke from the fire damaged some Tiffany and co jewelry, but most was in an airtight safe and came out OK, he said.
The store’s grand reopening is today.
“We have new carpet, new ceilings, new clocks, pretty much everything inside except the woodwork,” Pulliam said. The store’s layout, however, remains the same.
The fire came at a bad time for the store, which was preparing for the holiday season, Pulliam said, and there was a rush to get the repairs done and the store reopened.
“It was right in the heart of our busiest time for the year,” he said. Insurance covered part of the loss, but the store is also working to make up for the lost time.
“We’re having a huge Christmas sale,” Pulliam said. “Everything is on sale. We’re 100 percent excited to be reopened and to have two and a half weeks until Christmas.”
The store, which employs four people who have all been off work during the closing, specializes in Christmas Tree jewelry repair and custom-made pieces, Pulliam said, including customized engagement rigs and bridal sets.
The location has been a jewelry store since 1952. It has operated under the Alexander’s name since 1969 and has been owned by the current occupant, Pulliam’s father-in-law, Parker Esposito,since 1985.
The fire was one of three set that morning. The others were in a trash can at 629 E. Seventh Ave. and in a vacant home that was destroyed at 3105 E. 56th Ave.
Two men were arrested in the early morning of Oct. 10 after Hutchinson police officer Rob Rowe smelled smoke and spotted the men walking down the street.
The two — Mason Kincaid, 19, and Justin Branscom, 20 — were charged in connection with five arson fires that occurred between Sept. 19 and Oct. 10, most in trash receptacles, but also to a garage at 22 W. 11th Ave.
Kincaid pleaded guilty on Nov. 26 to all five counts, while Branscom pleaded guilty to two charges tiffany cufflinks and the other three were dismissed, including the Alexander’s and 56th Avenue fires. Sentencing for both men was set for Jan. 2. The charges carry presumptive probation.
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