After a fire in February saw it close it doors, a popular toy and game store in Charlottetown is reopening in the Confederation Court Mall just in time for the holiday season.
The new temporary location of Owls Hollow was a hub of activity as employees unpacked boxes and stocked shelves to get the store ready for opening.
Steven Balderston, the son of owner Barry and Louise Balderston, said staff is very excited the store is reopening.
“Everybody was really happy and excited to get going again.”
The store had to temporarily close its location at 95 Capital Drive after a fire broke out in an used clothing store located in the building owned by the Balderstons’.
The store itself mostly received smoke damage and it was hoped after the fire that the store would reopen quickly. But that didn’t happen when it became clear the building itself would need to be updated to meet new building codes, said Balderston.
They received word about a month and a half ago that things weren’t going to be ready in time for the holiday season and that’s when they started to think about opening a temporary spot, said Balderston. He said customers have been wondering when the store would reopen as well.
“It’s one of the reasons we thought to get a temporary spot just to get out name out there again.”
And it seems customers are very excited for the stores return after a post announcing the reopening was placed on Facebook.
“It was shared like 100 times or something like that,” said Balderston. “I think the it’s the biggest post we have ever posted as far as getting attention.”
Heather Smith, an employee at the store for four years, loves working for the store and says it’s awesome to be back.
“It’s just a fun place.”
She was working the day of the fire and, like the rest of the staff, naively thought it wouldn’t take long for the store to reopen.
When she heard a temporary place was being open she felt wonderful, said Smith.
“We have had so many people come up to us during this whole time asking ‘when are you opening. We need yarn. We want some games.’ And it’s just so nice to be able to tell people yeah you can come here.”
It’s still unclear when the old location will reopen. Balderston says it could still be another year or more.
But they are making changes at the store on Capital Drive which they are very excited about, said Balderston.
They hope to have the temporary store up and running by Oct. 21, if not sooner, said Balderston.
After a fire in February saw it close it doors, a popular toy and game store in Charlottetown is reopening in the Confederation Court Mall just in time for the holiday season.
The new temporary location of Owls Hollow was a hub of activity as employees unpacked boxes and stocked shelves to get the store ready for opening.
Steven Balderston, the son of owner Barry and Louise Balderston, said staff is very excited the store is reopening.
“Everybody was really happy and excited to get going again.”
The store had to temporarily close its location at 95 Capital Drive after a fire broke out in an used clothing store located in the building owned by the Balderstons’.
The store itself mostly received smoke damage and it was hoped after the fire that the store would reopen quickly. But that didn’t happen when it became clear the building itself would need to be updated to meet new building codes, said Balderston.
They received word about a month and a half ago that things weren’t going to be ready in time for the holiday season and that’s when they started to think about opening a temporary spot, said Balderston. He said customers have been wondering when the store would reopen as well.
“It’s one of the reasons we thought to get a temporary spot just to get out name out there again.”
And it seems customers are very excited for the stores return after a post announcing the reopening was placed on Facebook.
“It was shared like 100 times or something like that,” said Balderston. “I think the it’s the biggest post we have ever posted as far as getting attention.”
Heather Smith, an employee at the store for four years, loves working for the store and says it’s awesome to be back.
“It’s just a fun place.”
She was working the day of the fire and, like the rest of the staff, naively thought it wouldn’t take long for the store to reopen.
When she heard a temporary place was being open she felt wonderful, said Smith.
“We have had so many people come up to us during this whole time asking ‘when are you opening. We need yarn. We want some games.’ And it’s just so nice to be able to tell people yeah you can come here.”
It’s still unclear when the old location will reopen. Balderston says it could still be another year or more.
But they are making changes at the store on Capital Drive which they are very excited about, said Balderston.
They hope to have the temporary store up and running by Oct. 21, if not sooner, said Balderston.
