PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. — An electrical fire in The Shops of Prairie Village last week is continuing to impact local business operations.
Major generators were transported from Texas and lined the parking lot of the shopping center.
"You're dealing with an unknown and you have to make pretty big decisions fast," said Sarah Jabbour, owner of Scoobie.
Scoobie is a women's clothing boutique situated across the walkway from where the basement electrical fire occurred.
Jabbour told KSHB 41 that news of the fire took to social media and she was hesitant to race to view the damage.
"I was first thankful everyone was okay," she said. "But, you think worst case scenario."
In the last two years, Jabbour's boutique has benefited from the Chiefs' successful postseason runs.
"January and February in retail are pretty slow," she added.
Success at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium bolsters business during the down months. An electrical fire impacting lights and heat creates a concern heading into a Super Bowl week of sales.
"We ordered special things to have here in time and know we have a short little window to sell," said Jabbour.
She said neighboring businesses put their heads together, offering Scoobie window space to sell their products and find ways to get over the hump.
"We really bonded trying to figure out and brainstorm, how do we still get this product to our customers that are so excited," she explained. "Who wants to get it and celebrate for their parties... We're so lucky to be in the shopping center community here."
While business appeared to look up for the boutique, Scratch Gourmet Kitchen around the corner faced some ongoing challenges.
"We walked in on Friday morning after the fire and our gnocchi, pastas, everything had now gone from being both cold and frozen to being wasted," explained Tyler Morrison, the owner. "Our executive chef...he's been spending about six hours making raviolis to get back up ready for service tonight."
KSHB 41 met with Morrison at his restaurant around 4 p.m. Wednesday. At about 5:30 p.m., Morrison called to explain the power had gone out and he would have to shut down operations for the night.
"We had to call all our reservations to tell them we can't serve them," said Morrison. "We have to have security that this isn't going to be something that doesn't affect us."
Morrison offered KSHB 41 a tour of its kitchen.
He said the restaurant experienced hefty losses from refrigerators that shorted out due to the fire, to other equipment, including food and wine losses. The kitchen estimates the total losses range upward of $75,000.
"I store all of our wine at the proper temperature... I won't serve it any other way," he explained. "That is not how we got on the Top 500 wine lists in the country. It's not part of our brand."
Scratch Kitchen recently renovated its current location and relaunched last week ahead of the unplanned fire.
"I'm gonna sit here and wait patiently. It could be day-by-day, hour by hour, or 15 minutes, by 15 minutes," added Morrison. "It's just something that we're going to have to work with a lot and we must find a good solution...or we won't make it."
Business owners in The Shops of Prairie Village put their heads together to host a Red Friday Chiefs rally ahead of Super Bowl Sunday.
From 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Chiefs fans are encouraged to stop by, get their face painted, browse the stores, and meet the Chiefs mascot, KC Wolf.
There is also an autographed Travis Kelce jersey for a raffle.
To participate in the "3-Peat" raffle, any receipt with a "3" on it, i.e. a bill totaling $25.63, is valid for entry. The winner will be drawn at the shopping center's Red Friday Rally.
"This just goes to show the business owners resiliency and finding new ways to help each other," said Morrison.
The Shops of Prairie Village is located at 6920 Mission Road in Prairie Village, Kansas, 66208.
"We are really lucky to be in the community," added Jabbour.
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KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. Share your story idea with Ryan.
