GREENWOOD, Mo. — An antique shop burned to the ground early Sunday, and the devastation is huge for the family that owns it.
Alexandra Fellows, 29, said it’s not just about the loss of items, it’s the sentimental value of losing a place her parents worked very hard for, and one she grew up next to.
What was left of Country Heritage Antiques was still smoldering hours later. It was a fire hot enough to break brick and melt glass.
“I saw lights and I walked out and just, it was engulfed in flames,” Fellows said.
Fellows said she was awoken by “popping” noises around 2 a.m. She said the barn turned antique shop her mother started, was up in flames.
“It was a beautiful barn,” she said. “It was over 100 years old. It was kind of a landmark. People who were going to come out to the antique shop or come out to visit they’d say, ‘Just look for the big red barn.'”
Fellows said her mother, Claire, opened the shop about 30 years ago with the help of Claire’s dad, Ted. She said it focused on rare items from New England’s 1700s and 1800s.
“They raised me, and sometimes you have to be the rock for them. It’s really hard,” Fellows said.
She said they lost hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of items. In fact, she said a customer was coming back next week to buy an antique cupboard worth $4,000. Fellows said essentially, the one item she can salvage is an iron waffle maker.
Fellows said what is worse, the barn isn’t insured and her parents are on a fixed income.
“Their insurance did not cover the barn and it’s really awful because they wish they would’ve,” Fellows said.
Fellows said at least the family does have a booth in town and another one in the West Bottoms. Still, she said it can’t replace this shop full of memories after three decades.
To contact the family, you can email: countryheritage.mo@gmail.com
The Pleasant Hill Fire Protection District is investigating the cause of the fire.
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