Hurd's Store rises from the ashes

The fire fueled a lot of emotions for one Southington woman.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
SOUTHINGTON -- Rhonda Schimley becomes emotional when she talks about Hurd's Store, an important part of this community since the 1860s.
She remembers the morning in December when she heard on her scanner that a fire had broken out at the business at the corner of state Routes 534 and 305. She went there immediately, worried about the owners, the Biery family -- and the son who lived upstairs.
Everyone made it out safely.
"The fire had really took it," said Schimley, a longtime Southington resident. "Then to see them gut it, that was hard. They just put everything in a Dumpster."
The store was such a part of her life, just driving by in the months that followed was difficult.
On Monday, she cried again over the Hurd's Store, sometimes called Hurd's L'il Market, because it had reopened after five months of renovation. This time she cried tears of joy to finally see her friend Debbie Hurd Biery, Debbie's husband, Bob Biery Jr., and their son, Jake, all back in the store.
Changes
Some changes had taken place. The renovated Hurd's had a brand new interior and new coolers. About the only thing that wasn't new was a stained-glass window above the deli counter. It is one of five stained-glass windows that were retained to keep some of the building history.
The structure, built around 1865, is still essentially here. All of the original flooring, wall and ceiling beams remain, even though the extensive smoke and heat damage from the fire required installation of new drywall and ceilings.
Debbie said the old wood was so hard, it was just singed.
Jake said he believes the building was so closed up during the fire that it didn't have enough air to produce massive flames. Most of the damage was from smoke and heat.
About the only feature of the old building Debbie says she knows is missing is the tongue-in-groove ceiling. Even the old milk bottles that occupied the old store have been saved, she said. Some of the bottles are imprinted with her father's name, D.A. Hurd, from his days as a dairy farmer. Also in the collection are milk bottles from Biery Dairy, which were from Bob's family's business.
The only major change to the exterior is that a section of the store on the building's west side was removed, which took away about 600 square feet of floor space. That section had the worst damage, and the Bierys decided they could provide the same amount of service without it.
In its place, the Biery's installed one of the several major upgrades, a drive-through window. Just above the new drive-through, however, is the old Hurd's sign -- repainted and touched up, but otherwise the same. Other modernizations include air conditioning and a video surveillance system.
Customers
Among the things that hasn't changed is the warm relationship between the Bierys and their customers. In addition to Schimley, who said the store's owners and employees have always treated her like family, other customers coming through the doors expressed their warm feelings for the store and its people -- all whom have returned to their previous jobs.
"The Hurds have been good people all these years. It's a historic place and a place where people mingle and get all of their basic needs," said customer Bob Bradley of Southington, who came shopping Thursday. "We've been waiting. We're glad it's back open."
Bradley noted that the store is a common stop for employees driving to and from the cabinet manufacturer Kraft Maid in Middlefield.
Schimley added that the store is important to people in the Southington area because the next nearest store is in Champion, probably a 10-minute drive away. "Everybody was sick of having to drive to Champion to get something," she said, noting that the high prices of gasoline made that drive that much more taxing.
Bob said his family understood that the community needed the store, and they worked as quickly as possible to complete the renovations and reopen.
During the first few days back open, the Bierys received flowers with cards attached saying "Welcome back." Three Warren restaurants, a greenhouse and meat company are providing products to help the Bierys hold a grand reopening and ribbon cutting Saturday, Debbie said.
Among their most enthusiastic customers, she said, are the children at the nearby Southington school, who have long made it a practice to buy their snacks at the store before or after school. When they learned of the fire in December, they were distraught, Debbie said. "They couldn't wait to get back in here," she added.
New home
Construction is still taking place beside the store, where Jake's home is being built in a space that served as an office at the time of the fire.
Jake said he hopes he can one day become the seventh generation in the Hurd family to run the business. "We're hoping it'll last my lifetime, too," he said.
The Dec. 4 fire started in a beverage cooler. Fire officials estimated that it caused around $120,000 worth of damage. Bob said insurance covered most of the renovation costs, though he and his wife had to spend money on additional items that were not covered, like a new septic system.
As Schimley stood in front of the store last week, she considered all of the modernizations at the old store, including a new steel and glass front door. "The old one was a screen door," she said with a laugh.
runyan@vindy.com