Handy Man opens temporary store in old location

Sept. 19, 2019

The road to recovery is leading home for Handy Man Home Remodeling Center.

The business has reopened at 1101 S. Cliff Ave. It used to be located there beginning in the mid-1950s through the mid-1990s.

While it moved to 910 E. 10th St. in 1994, it kept the Cliff Avenue building and leased it to LifeScape, which used it for the retail store Inspirations.

As fate would have it, LifeScape decided not to renew the lease and was in the process of moving out when the storm hit Handy Man on Sept. 10.

“They wanted to move Sept. 30 and had their moving truck here the day before the tornado to get their stuff out,” said Steve Swenson, whose grandfather, father and uncle co-founded Handy Man in 1946.

The 10th Street store was heavily damaged, with significant impact to the roof and ceiling, plus water damage.

The merchandise in the front of the store was hit but has been moved to the new space on Cliff Avenue and is being used as a showroom.

“We wiped it up, and if you look close, there are nicks,” Swenson said. “And we’ll have a tornado of a sale someday. Right now, we can’t sell any of this, but we can order new ones that look like it.”

He compared setting up the temporary store to about 10 booths at the home show. While the shower display area was hit the hardest by the storm, he has enough to show popular models in the temporary store.

There also are kitchen sinks, faucets, tubs and toilets on display.

Customers who had merchandise waiting at the old store can pick it up at the new one.

“The cool thing is we didn’t lose any customers’ merchandise, not even a faucet,” Swenson said. “Our back room was OK. It was our front showroom that got pummeled.”

Now, the process of rebuilding begins. And unfortunately, it’s one Swenson knows all too well.

Three years ago, his longtime family home in Valley Springs caught on fire while the family was away. It took four hours for someone to notice and report it.

When he got the call early Sept. 11 to come to the store with plywood to board up windows, it was a sickeningly familiar feeling.

“When I walked up to the door, I thought, ‘This is just like my house,’ ” he said.

The community support, though, has been strong enough that he becomes emotional trying to describe it.

“It’s been humbling,” he said. “People we didn’t even know. Some ladies came over and wanted to help. You have to have a hard hat. The ceiling was falling in. Every three minutes, ceiling tile would fall. It was unbelievable. And our employees, we all just dug in. Family members came. It was like a hurricane. All hands on deck.”

For employees, it’s been tough not being able to serve customers who also need help rebuilding damaged homes, he said.

“That’s the thing that’s frustrating. We’re in the business of helping people. That’s what we do. We help them remodel and fix stuff. And we got pummeled. We’re just trying to get on our feet enough to help customers who are in need,” he said.

The good news is the warehouse wasn’t damaged and is stocked with merchandise, he said.

“We’re just limping a little bit right now. But everybody has been super patient who comes in the store here.”

Hours will be 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. The hope is to move back into the 10th Street store before the end of the year.

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Handy Man opens temporary store in old location

The road to recovery is leading home for Handy Man Home Remodeling Center.

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