Ternay's Shop in the Woods, in business for nearly 70 years, burned almost entirely to the ground in late October.
MONROE TWP. -- The owners of Ternay's Shop in the Woods, an antique furniture store destroyed by fire last month, say they hope to reopen with an expanded store front in the coming year. The shop, long considered a hidden gem for furniture and restoration jobs, had been at its Glassboro Road location since 1969 when it burned nearly to the ground Oct. 22.
Now, with the ruins of the store freshly demolished, the family that has run Ternay's for three generations says they will be up and running as soon as they can rebuild.
"We'll be bigger and better," said James "Butch" Ternay, whose parents founded the store in 1947.
His mother, 87-year-old Kathryn, first to try to fight the fire, which started when a container of chemical-soaked rags began to smolder in the spray booth where Butch refinished furniture. The heat overcame the fireproof container where the rags were being stored, then spread across the floor and up the walls.
"Sometimes you don't use common sense," said Kathryn. The heat overcame the fireproof container where the rags were being stored, then spread across the floor and up the walls. Refusing to give up the business she'd run for decades, she used two fire extinguishers on the flames. Her hair melted as she worked, but she was otherwise unhurt.
ALSO: Resident, 2 firefighters injured in Deptford blaze
The storefront and workshop were destroyed, and just when firefighters from five responding departments thought they were finished, the flames reignited.
"They were rolling hoses, and my daughter was out back," said Butch. "She started yelling 'it's coming back' and then it flashed."
Kathryn's home sustained smoke damage in the second blaze and will need to be gutted. She is currently staying with Butch, who lives just five houses away from the shop.
"Everybody asks how she's doing," he said. "The second day she was here, I came home and she was mopping the floor. If I gave her another week she'd be up re-shingling the roof."
The family does not yet have a deadline for when they will reopen because their insurance claim is still being processed. They already had extra stock in storage, however, so filling the new store won't be a problem.
"We're used to being busy," said Kathryn. "So we want to get on with it. We've already got a woman with eight pieces of furniture, just waiting for us to get back at it."
Butch also said the Ternays were taking the opportunity to update their business model. He's used to working on Victorian-era pieces, but has found that his younger customers are seeking vintage furniture from the 1960s and '70s.
"You've got to re-adjust," said Butch. "We've got all new customers and they're not seeking the same things, but some people are still buying the old stuff.
"As soon as I've got four walls up and a roof over my head, I'll get back to work."
Andy Polhamus may be reached at apolhamus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ajpolhamus. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.