Death of a Dream?…
Devastating Fire Destroys Country Tyme

by Kathy Greer

   Yellow tape bows tautly under a strong wind, threatening to break free, as indeed it has further down the line. Towards the end of the building, sagging almost to the ground under the weight of swiftly growing icicles, the plastic tape is a sad reminder that even in disaster, there are some who would profit from the misfortune of others.
   Firemen continue to pour hundreds of gallons of water onto the acrid smoke, which billows towards the bright morning sun. The aftermath can be almost as frightening as the fire itself. And so it was, as I gathered with other onlookers Wednesday morning, February 19th. The scene held little resemblance to the once thriving mall located only minutes from my home.
   Front steps now encased in ice, once welcoming flower pots bear little resemblance to former gaiety. Pat and Lou Guevin, owners of Country Tyme Antiques, gather with Todd Clements, the owner of Studio Lighting and survey the damage. There is nothing recognizable in the solid block of ice that once was one of NH’s most popular antiques malls. Pat shakes her head and says to me, “It’s unbelievable.”
   Indeed it is. Not only have they lost their business, but the many dealers who made up Country Tyme have lost all of their inventory. Along with the other five businesses located at 223 Daniel Webster Highway (Route 3) in Belmont, NH, Country Tyme Antiques has truly burned to the ground. I have covered many fires in thirty years as a newspaper reporter, but this is one of the worst in terms of property lost.

The Fire
 
    The phone call from Jane Holt comes sometime around 7:30 pm, Tuesday, January 18th. The vivacious owner of Holt’s Antiques Shows is also a dealer at Country Tyme Antiques and had received a phone call from a friend with a scanner who had called to say there had been a report of a fire at the Major Brands Plaza. “Do you know if it is true?” Jane asks me.
   “I don’t know but I’ll call you back.” Bundling up in preparation for the below-zero temps outside, I crank up the Ford and race down the street. I live only minutes from the plaza.
    As I approach the Belknap Mall, located about half a mile up the road from Major Brands Plaza, I recognize the signs of a fire scene. Policemen are pulling over traffic, cars are turning around. The road is blocked off with fire trucks and hoses. I pull into the mall and park my car. I flash my press badge and begin to walk down Route 3 towards the fire scene, joined by a retired fire chief from Massachusetts. He stays by my side for much of the night, explaining what is happening. A red glow fills the night sky. His first comment to me is, “I don’t think they have this fire under control.” A few minutes later, he prophetically adds, “I think they’re going to lose this building.”
   The Belmont Fire Department received the first call around 7 PM, when the fire alarm at Read All About It, a bookstore located at the far north end of the plaza, went off. The store had opened approximately one month earlier. Within minutes of the arrival of the first firefighters, the fire went to three alarms and about 45 minutes later, to five and then six alarms. An army of firemen from at least 20 towns fought a brave battle in frigid temperatures.
   A Belmont policeman William Wright, first on the scene, reported heavy smoke billowing out of the roof area of the “Read All About It” book store. Within minutes flames were shooting out of the roof area of the store, and according to Belmont Fire Chief Richard Siegel, the fire quickly spread thru the building’s second story. Firemen on the roof realized the fire was spreading and began to concentrate their efforts on trying to contain the flames, but to little avail. “The roof here is all open, so it ran right across the attic,” said Siegel.
   Next door sat Country Tyme Antiques and as the flames spread, thick black smoke began to curl from under the eaves, then billowed upwards.
   “There she goes,” remarked my companion, the retired fire chief and in the blink of an eye, flames shot upwards into the night sky. It seemed as though the entire store went ablaze at once. Water blasted down upon the scene from a hose atop an aerial ladder, while other firefighters continued to lay more water lines to combat the blaze. Icicle-hung mustaches evidenced the brutal sub-zero temperatures as firefighters worked feverishly to bring more water to the major  industrial/commercial shopping plaza. Puddles iced up immediately on Route 3, but the intense heat at the fire scene itself reminded one of roasting marshmallows at a camp fire. By now, at least three hose lines were pumping water all the way from Mosquito Bridge at Lake Winnisquam, approximately a mile away, while two more lines ran down the length of Route 3 from the Belknap Mall, 3000 feet away. It is so cold fire trucks are situated along the way, helping to pump the water uphill from the lake. The frigid temperatures is among the biggest challenge facing the crews, as the water is freezing almost immediately. At one point a grader has to be called in to remove substantial ice buildup on the northbound travel lane.
  “We had quite a few trucks freeze up,” says Belmont fire chief Siegel. “We had 10,000 feet of hose frozen at one point.”

  “They’re going to lose this whole mall,” predicts the retired fire chief from Mass. It is hard to comprehend with all that equipment and personnel in place. “Watch that flash over,” he adds, stepping backwards quickly. Inside the store a wall of fire danced on the ceiling…within minutes the metal roof above Country Tyme collapses into the shop.
    But the fire is already on the move. That thick black smoke once again curled from under the roof of the structure, but now it was running almost the entire length of the building to the south. Firefighters had clearly begun to concentrate their efforts on the southern end of the complex which houses Galaxy Gym and Nails 2000. In the middle of the building flames are already shooting thru Studio Lighting (a Tiffany Light factory outlet store) and the Egg-Cellent Restaurant; it is obvious they can not be saved. Stained glass panels at Studio Lighting glow in the firelight, as though electricity still lit the bulbs in the beautiful lamps that were painfully engulfed in flames.  I could only imagine the sorrow the shop’s owner Todd Clements had to be feeling. He was later quoted in a Laconia Citizen article as saying, “We watched our dream of 31 years disintegrate.”
  Channel 9, WMUR-TV is having a difficult time of it filming on the ice. They leave.
   Three and a half miles of fire hose running along the length of Rt. 3, and at least three separate ladder trucks pouring water from above… and now there is talk amongst the firefighters of the fire jumping to the second building that makes up the Major Brand Plaza.
   I turn and see Lou Guevin, wearing a long black coat, appearing tall and gaunt in the firelight. His wife Pat approaches, puts her head on my shoulder and begins to cry. “It’s all gone,” she whispers softly. “God, it’s all gone.” There is nothing one can say at a time like this, simply try to give solace. Having gone thru our own personal disaster ten years ago, I know the shock and numbness Pat is feeling.
   After a hug, Pat pulls back and says, “They don’t have enough water.”
  “I know.”
  “They’re just going to let it go. They’re trying to save the other building.”
    I know, but say nothing.
    Flames are still leaping out of the roof of what was once Country Tyme and Studio Lighting next door. The sign above what was once Country Tyme’s entryway collapses backwards into the inferno. Pat’s eyes are bleak. “We just bought a brand new computer system; we were going to computerize the whole store. I tried to go in to get it but the firemen wouldn’t let me.”
   “Thank God!” I replied. “Did you see how fast it spread. You might not have gotten out of there.”
    As it turns out, thankfully there was no loss of human life from the fire…only minimal injuries. A spectator slips and falls on the ice and suffers a broken arm; someone else has an anxiety attack; one Winnisquam firefighter is taken to Lakes Region General Hospital and later released. Even small blessings are welcome on this terrible night.

The Morning After

   If it was bleak the night before, the morning after is horrific. In the stark morning light there is no denial; the Country Tyme complex is a complete loss along with the other five businesses located there. The second building has been saved, but vinyl siding ripples in the wind like gray ribbons hanging from the building’s north side.
   Insurance adjusters are already on the scene; business owners walk around numbly in disbelieve; firemen with a ladder truck continue to pour water into the first structure which is still smoldering. It’s hard to believe anything could be smoldering under all that ice!
   What was once the basement of the building is now filled with a solid block of ice. The metal roof of the building looks as though someone laid it down gently to dry over a rack in the middle of mess.
   Under a gray sky, acrid smoke drifts and swirls around wooden timbers thrust awkwardly towards a pale sun attempting to break thru the haze. Firemen from six surrounding communities are still on the scene pouring water from one truck and numerous hoses.  Liz Walters, a reporter from the Concord Monitor who I’d met the night before, approaches and explains there is talk the firemen will be wrapping things up soon.
  Representatives from the NH State Fire Marshall’s office are on hand, along with equipment with which they are searching the back section of what was once the Read All About It book/newspaper store on the north end of the building. Preliminary evidence suggests the fire started in that area, but an official states that the cause, while not suspicious, is still unknown. I look at what is left of the whole mall and wonder how they can find anything in the rubble. A canine unit leaves ­ apparently no suspicious inflammatories.
    Mike Baron, original owner of the building, is in deep conversation with an insurance adjuster. I ask if he has spoken with Mark Young, the Massachusetts man to whom he sold the building this past summer. “Do you know if he will rebuild?”
   Baron asks if I am a reporter and then declines to speak with me.
   The Baron family still owns the second building in the plaza, the Major Brands Plaza which sustained damage to the vinyl siding ­ but to all other outward appearances, is intact.
   In total, six businesses are a total loss. Along with the newspaper store and Country Tyme Antiques, also gone are Studio Lighting, the Egg-Cellent Restaurant, Galaxy Gym, and Nails 2000.
   A dealer approaches and stares at the front steps to Country Tyme. “It’s hard to believe a building like this is gone,” he says. A former volunteer firefighter himself, he adds, “I just restocked my booth. I put in a nice tool chest worth $300.”
   We are silent for a while, staring at the remains, trying to figure out certain landmarks in the store, like the front counter, then he asks, “Do you know what Pat & Lou will do?”
   Of course, as it turns out, as days go by that is the number one question posed to me by dealers.
   But at the time I explain we hadn’t yet talked about their plans. “My booth was right over there,” he says and points towards the right middle-hand side of the collapsed roof. “Can’t imagine they’ll be anything salvageable.”
  It is bitter cold and despite layers of clothing, my fingers and feet are numb. I decide to come back later.

   Late afternoon and car after car passes thru the parking lot, occupants staring in disbelief. The parking lot is a virtual ice skating rink. Pat and Lou Guevin are surveying the damage, along with NH State Representative John Thomas. Also on hand, at least one former employee who looks to have been crying.
   Representative Thomas says, “This is a terrible loss for the town of Belmont.”
   I  think to myself, “For a lot more than Belmont.”
   Todd Clements, owner of Studio Lighting is also present. What’s left of the sign to his shop is pictured above. He explains he has $125,000 in insurance on a home owner’s policy for personal contents he displayed in the store. Last year when he had some expensive items stolen from a display case he was able to collect. Having seen his personal collection on display in the store, I feel very badly for his loss. “It’s minimal insurance,” he explains, adding that he had over a million in store inventory not insured. The store was having its annual “sell out to the walls” sale and was fully stocked.
   Pat Guevin is clearly exhausted when I’m finally able to talk with her. “You feel so, what is the word, impotent,” she says. “Just numb. We didn’t sleep all night.”
  I ask if they’ve had a chance to reach any of the shop’s dealers. “Some,” she says. “The kids came over this morning and helped us call the dealers.”
    And the dealer response?
   “It ran the gamut,” she says. “Some said just let me know where you’re going to move to and I’m there. They were very supportive… While some were devastated at the news. And you know, others were abusive, acting as though we were at fault.”
    And what are their future plans?…as though they’ve had a chance to really think about it. I feel awkward saying the words, yet know the dealers are already asking.
   Pat takes a deep sigh. “I don’t know, Kathy. We took such a personal loss. We only have $25,000 insurance on the business assets, like computers and glass cases. I had no personal insurance coverage on my own merchandise in the store. I had to drop it, it got too expensive.”
   Pat later tells me she had over $100,000 of her own non-insured merchandise in the shop for sale. But it is the personal loss of items stored on the shop’s 2nd floor that also have she and Lou devastated. She explains that when they sold their house in Meredith in 2004 and moved to a condo, they put much of their personal belongings such as baby pictures and albums, home movies, all their tax records in storage on the second floor. Their son’s two motorcycles were stored in the shop basement.
    Lou approaches us and tells his wife he is concerned about liability issues…someone needs to secure the building. A few minutes later John Southwell from the NH Fire Marshall’s office starts threading yellow tape thru pieces of burned framing in an effort to secure the property.
    “We feel really badly for the dealers,” explained Lou, adding that someone might be desperate enough to attempt to enter the property to look for merchandise. “They’ve loss everything.”
   “And I bet none of them have insurance either,” adds Pat.
    As it turns out, she is right. As we went to press, this editor had not found one Country Tyme dealer who had insurance. I’ve heard from approximately 1/3 of the shop’s dealers whose individual losses ranged from several thousand in miscellaneous “stuff” to at least $45,000 in sports memorabilia and autographs.
   At least one dealer, calling himself naive, said he thought his shop rent “covered the heat, the electricity and the insurance.” (see sidebar article on Page 22)
    As we went to press on February 1, 2005, exactly two weeks had passed since the fire. Some dealer’s reactions to the fire had undergone differing transformations. Shock gave way to despair… in some cases, extreme anger. Pat and Lou contacted me a week after the fire saying they wanted to do something for the dealers, adding they felt really badly and did I have any ideas. I suggested a fund raising auction…and two auctioneers, Ken Barrett and Jim Saturley both kindly offered the use of their auction halls free of charge.
   But after days of discussions with dealers, along with Pat and Lou, it quickly became apparent this was one fund-raiser that wouldn’t occur… at least not any time soon.
   Dealers quickly starting questioning me on “who” would disperse the funds…moreover, on what “formula” would the monies be given out to dealers. “Why should some little old lady who only paid $40 in rent get the same amount as me?” asked several dealers. Others said it should be on the basis of “how many” booths a dealer rented.
   One man suggested it should be done on the basis of average yearly sales over the past couple of years. When I pointed out that not all dealers keep good records, he said, “Then they should get nothing!”
    It didn’t take me long to realize the fund-raising auction was a logistical nightmare!
    Some dealers called to ask, “Don’t I have half a month’s rent coming to me?” I said, “Don’t ask me. Contact the Guevins.”
   Others said they wanted to be paid for the merchandise they’d sold in the first two weeks of January, prior to the fire. I pointed out that with all the store’s computers and records, even the shop’s safe, missing and presumed burned in the fire, it would be difficult for the Guevins to determine those sales.
     “But the bank didn’t burn down!” one guy yelled at me over the phone.
     We spoke with Pat Guevin just before we went to press concerning some of the dealer’s questions, particularly would they reopen. “It’s too early for us to determine what is happening with Country Tyme,” she said. “It’s only been a week or so. We’ve taken such a huge financial loss, that question remains to be determined.”
    Look for much more on this unfolding story in our March issue. In the meantime, Pat Guevin asked if you are a Country Tyme dealer who has not heard from them since the fire, please email her with your name, phone number and mailing address.
  “There were some newer dealers in the shop who we don’t have any contact information for, not even a phone number,” she explained. You can contact Pat and Lou at guevin@metrocast.net

To Insure or Not to Insure...That IS the ?

   Working on this month’s lead article, I heard over and over from dealers, “I can’t afford it” or “it’s too complicated - they want you to itemize everything and every time you sell something you have to delete it and let them know and when you buy something, the same again. Who has time for that?”
   Some dealers told me they thought they were covered under Country Tyme’s liability policy - Pat and Lou Guevin confirmed that several dealers had asked them for their insurance company name and told the couple they intended to file a claim.
  This editor would like to inform our readers that a group shop owner CAN’T insure YOUR STUFF. It’s YOUR STUFF - YOU need to insure it. Think of it like renting an apartment. If there is a fire at your apartment, your landlord would not be responsible for the items you lost in the fire -  you would need Renter’s Insurance to cover your own items.
  In addition, I’d like to suggest that ALL group shop owners include a disclaimer in their shop contracts. Have a lawyer look your contract over, I’m not an attorney, but something like:

  The owners of (made up name...Back in Time Antiques) DO NOT INSURE your merchandise. We urge ALL of our dealers to obtain their own insurance on their items in the shop. If the occasion arises that one or more of your items is lost, stolen, or destroyed by any means, Back in Time Antiques and its owners are NOT LIABLE for the item’s replacement or cost.

  I’m sure you get my gist...

  In addition, I’ve been contacted by a number of shop owners who said the situation at Country Tyme had really opened their eyes to potential problems at their own shops. Several said they make nightly back-up tapes of their store’s daily transactions - BUT then store those tapes on-site, defeating the whole purpose of back-ups (recovery of data, should it be lost).
    Several shop owners said they had no back-up copies of paper documents, like dealer contracts.
  One shop owner said she was going to immediately make copies and store them off-site, along with giving each dealer a copy as well.
  “This fire was a wake-up call for me,” she added.
  A dealer suggested I contact the Collectibles Insurance Agency of Westminster, MD. Their advertising and website states “dealer no listing required.”
  Of course, we’d hope if you’re in a business that deals with inventory (ie, your merchandise), you should have an inventory list regardless of insurance! We were able to contact them just as we went to press (their computers were down for over a day), but their website looks very interesting. Go to www.collectinsure.com
   There seem to be a lot of restrictions concerning losses in “the mail”, and they don’t insure all items. A representative emailed to say, “We do not insure furniture, jewelry, oil paintings, gold, textiles & perishables.  Dealers are encouraged to contact our office for a premium quote as we do not advertise our dealer rates (they vary depending on the needs per policy).  Also, if you'd like to speak to an agent anyone here would be happy to help you in any way.”
Call 1-888-837-9537.
   They have a policy for “book dealers” and I’m going to sign up and will let readers know the rates, etc. in our March issue.
   If you have insurance on your dealer merchandise  PLEASE email me (gavel96@worldpath.net) and let me know your insurance company and phone # - perhaps a contact name or agent as this is an issue that needs to be thoroughly explored for ALL antiques dealers.
    If you have suggestions for insurance for dealers (and/or shopowners) please contact us for a future article at gavel96@worldpath.net