MATTOON, Ill. (WAND) – The owner of Shores Jewelry says he plans to open a temporary store near where his business recently burned down.
Flames tore through the old Shores Jewelry location at 1614 Broadway Ave. on March 21, leaving the three-story building in ruins. Howard Shores’ family, including his son, his son’s fiancé and his 11-month-old grandchild, were in an apartment above that store and managed to escape unharmed. They believe they lost everything that fire.
The road to recovery has been long, but Harold Shores tells WAND-TV he will soon be ready for a new short-term space, which will be several blocks away at 1821 Broadway Ave. and in a location that used to belong to Book Nook. Jasper Holdings owns that property and is renovating it for Shores to use. The storefront can be found at the southeast corner of 19th and Broadway streets.
In the long term, Shores says he plans to open a new one-story building in the same space that burned down. That property will have six retail or office spaces, two of which he’s taking and two renters have claimed, leaving two others open.
The plan is to move in and open in the new building by February of March of 2020.
Shores says downtown is the place to be for him. His business has been there since 1985. Shores Jewelry first opened for business in 1948.
“I’ve been on Broadway my entire life and that’s just home,” he said. “We have a great downtown. We have a great community down there.”
Demolition of the burned Shores Jewelry store is set to happen Tuesday. Miller Enterprises of Champaign will oversee that process.
Shores says city leaders have been great to work with and have shown him support as he works to rebuild his business.
