A Williams Lake business owner who lost everything in her store to a fire Thursday, March 27, is hoping she can start again somehow.
Karen Anderson opened Station 99 - a new and used treasures store - in the fall of 2023 and held her grand opening April 2024.
"Things had been going well," Anderson told the Tribune Friday. "I'd just turned it over to look more like a new and used store rather than a big old garage sale. I really hope I can find a new location."
The store was housed inside a former warehouse on Mackenzie Avenue North near the Station House Gallery.
Anderson did not own the building, but said her landlord had been doing some upgrades to make improvements, including recently having some new doors installed at the north end of the building.
"I had a lot of people telling me how nice it was and how good it looked now," she said. "I'd look out and see customers and think it looked like a real store."
Unfortunately she couldn't afford content insurance because it was $2,500 a month and she was only just about to get her first pay cheque.
"Thank God the building owner had insurance. The property is owned by the railway," she said.
Anderson was fast asleep Thursday morning when a friend from Vancouver phoned to tell her about the fire after seeing a post on social media.
"I rushed down here in my pyjamas. I was crying all morning, I just couldn't believe it."
Anderson believes someone broke into the building the night before because one of the roll-up doors was pried open from the bottom and it was not like that when she left at 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.
Leading up to the fire, the hydro metres on the building were stolen several times too, she added.
Since Thursday morning many people have reached out offering their condolences, which made Anderson realize how much the store was appreciated by the community.
Kayleen Squalian, a regular customer, started a GoFundMe.
"Karen's store was a great place to get furniture, antiques and renovation supplies. Karen had great prices, so that anyone could do a bit of renovation to their homes or add to their decor, sometimes letting customers pay at their next payday," Squalian said on the GoFundMe page.
Still North Design Co. owner Courtney Nerbas launched a one-day fundraiser Friday, March 28, with 100 per cent of the profits from in-store and online sales going toward Anderson, as well as any donations people want to make at the store.
"Often when a tragic event occurs our community will rally together to help," Nerbas told the Tribune. "We were extremely saddened by the fire."
Williams Lake Fire Department Assistant Chief Cory Boyd said the department was called to the fire at 6:30 a.m. Thursday and the cause of the fire at this point is undetermined.
With video file produced by Andie Mollins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
