Art Corner FIRE!

wendy lang

CGF II, Certified Grumble Framer Level 2
Joined
Oct 23, 2007
Posts
322
Loc
Salem, MA
It's been a long absence, but I'm back, to say that my store BURNED DOWN about a month ago! NO BS!

The main floor was almost gutted; the cellar suffered water damage. The equipment down there is all rusted by now and can be salvaged only with much vigorous cleaning and replacement of the more sensitive parts.

Go to: www.theartcorner.blogspot.com for all the details.

It was my worst nightmare since I bought the store three years ago. How do I deal with the customers' work? I have VERY GOOD insurance. I urge all of YOU to get VERY GOOD insurance! The fire was electrical in nature, so you need to have "Interruption of Business" coverage, so you can continue to get pay checks and your key employees can get paid, too! You need to have "Possessions of Others in Your Care" coverage, too, in an UNLIMITED capacitiy! You need to have "Fine Arts" coverage as well, just to cover those loose ends, as it were.

This is an EDUCATION, believe me!

Has anyone here been through a similar situation and can give advice?

Wendy
The Art Corner
264 Washington Street--NOW 231 Washington Street
Salem, MA 01970
978-745-9524
artcornersalem@verizon.net
 
Wendy, I'm so sorry to hear about your fire. This news will kick-start me to double-check what my insurance will cover.

Wishing you the best. I know how overwhelming a disaster like this can feel. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
 
Oh my goodness! I don't even know what to say.

I learned a little about insurance when a hurricane flooded the town I worked in. The trains weren't running so I was stuck in the store and spent my time moving customer art and all the mat boards onto the counter tops.

A friendly competitor in town didn't have anyone there and lost materials, equipment and a LOT of customer property.

Also a framing friend here in the mid-Atlantic had a fire. It sounds less severe than yours. Her shop is in a plaza and the fire actually started in the space next door. The bulk of damage to her store was water damage. I know she's aware of the G but doesn't post often. I'll mention your thread to her. No doubt she has some insight to share.

Glad you're back!
 
Yes Wendy, I have gone through this before.

We had a 3 alarm fire at my shop in 1998. The fire was also electrical and more or less gutted the main work room. Most customers finished work was in another area and was able to be salvaged, but the unfinished work was all gone. As were the work orders as we were not computerized in 98.
The fire was so hot, it melted a seal 4468 press into 2 pieces.

Ok, now for the advise.
If you are planing on reopening, do it as soon as possible. I had a new space leased 4 days after the fire. While this is not ideal to have to take what was available, it is crucial that your clients know that you are not running away.

Dave
 
I wish you the best and hope you recover asap, well I haven't been through the exact same senario, I once had my shop broken into. Nothing was taken or damaged besides the door, I guess they where just looking for cash, HA, fooled them. It did stir me to double check my coverage and my basic liability insurance only covered a meek $250.00 in "Other people property" or "OPP", I had that increased, of course. I am currently looking at expanding my coverage, another education, to be sure.

I will second your advice and urge everyone to make sure your insurance covers, other people property! I assumed that my insurance agent, knowing the type of business I was involved in would cover all the bases for me and I was dead wrong, so please everyone double check your insurance.
 
Thanks, everyone, for your replies. Thank you, Dave, for the call today. It helped! My husband and I gave ourselves the day "off" today and we went antiquing! I bought a couple of antique frames to start restocking that part of my store, and we bought an item for decor in the shop showroom.

When the fire happened, I wrote down three scenarios that we had to address in the next months: Deal with the burned out store; deal with the new, temporary location; and LIVE!

Funny you spoke of the lack of computers, Dave, so that you had no records of customers. My store computer is a melted lump of plastic! So it'll do me no good either! However, my file cabinet survived, so I have many of my records.

Randy, we TOO were broken into, but it was well over ten years ago, when I was the store manager instead of owner. They took nothing, as well, and the funny part was the hammer marks on the file cabinet to try to break the lock. But it wasn't locked!

Any one have a cheap underpinner that I can buy, that's in the eastern Mass, southern NH area? Until I get the insurance $$ and can buy a brand, shiney new one...

Wendy
The Art Corner
 
Wendy, sorry about the fire!

Do you have a vendor that does local delievery? Ask them if they will join your frames for you at N/C until your settlement comes and you get things back in order. A good vendor will no doubt help out.
Me, I have broken ribs from a fall and LJ is doing that for me. I know they and other vendors have stepped up for Val. Ask them!
 
Wendy, We are so sorry about your fire. What a nightmare. I read your blog. It is really shocking that your insurance is requiring that your customers show proof of purchase (receipt) for their artwork before the insurance will cover it. I am outraged for you and your customers.
 
J Paul--All my vendors have offered to chop and join at a slashed rate for now. But we do a bang-up business with in-house made ready-mades and I'd like to continue to do that. I can use the equipment of a frame shop in Manchester-by-the-Sea and his dry mount press too! I'm just thinking of the gas and driving up to there every week!

Kirstie--I don't know yet how the insurance company will handle the customer's work, if indeed they need proof of worth. I don't think the insurance company knows what to do in this case! I know my Public Adjuster was scratching his head--"Art? How do we do that?" But he's stepped up to the plate and is working with me on establishing values.

We shall see how this all shakes out and how long it takes.

Thanks!
Wendy
 
Back in college our art building burnt down, all the students, proffesors had work in the building and collection of student work for years and years, granted a students work has no real value because there is probably no sales history to show as evidence. We where fortunate to get reimbursed (after much fighting with risk managment) for our supplies, our painting, prints where worth only the amount of material used to make them. I think a good portion of the work that comes into a shop would be valued tha same, unless the customer has proof of what it was worth ie; a reciept, a appraisel. Pricelss family treasure, sorry your out of luck.
 
lets see......you're female, living in Salem, delving in the arcane arts???? NO WONDER they burned you out!!!!!!!!!!!!
seriously, hard to pick up the pieces!
 
You said that your files survived (in a metal filing cabinet?), but did you have flat files, were they metal, and how did things stored in them do? Tragedies such as this do allow us to learn about which storage stuctures are more or less fire-resistant and your observations can really help this community.



Hugh
 
Wow. That is an eye opener. I hope things are back to normal for you in a hurry. Glad to hear you have great insurance than not so good insurance. Welcome back.
 
Valuing a piece of cutomer's art is a real tricky issue and I am certain that many clients feel their "irreplaceable" treasure is a one way ticket to a personal windfall. It's easy to understand some type of verification needed

Which brings up that interesting dilemna of what happens when we lose or damage a client's work. It's only happened twice in all these years; once the client saw dollars signs dancing in his vision and the other was spectacularly understanding

But, what do you do when faced with the same situation? just write a check for whatever they feel is proper? Or, do you attempt to establish a fair market value based on what they actually paid
 
A few questions

I would like to know what insurance company you are using (and depending on) right now.

Will you continue to do business with them?

What questions would you ask a new insurance company if you were looking to switch?

What changes would you make to your policy?

What would you change in the shop? (i.e. customers' artwork storage, etc)

Has your blog helped to keep customers informed and calm?

Have your customers been reasonable?

I am very sorry you had to go through this, I wish you all the luck in the world for the future of your business.

edie the enquiringmindsandall goddes
 
Where to start:

Bill Ward--YES, I am a female in Salem who has PURPLE HAIR and only wears black, but the city LOVES me, it seems! So, no, the old curse doesn't seem to apply. Except that strange things happened frequently at the old store, like glass in the glass barrel breaking at bizarre moments and us thinking of customers we hadn't seen in a while and them suddenly showing up at the door. AND the store seemed to be a Love Boat, as many people met their "soul mates" there, including ME!

Hugh--we had a metal file cabinet and the files survived fine, but the "pending" artwork was stored in cardboard folders under the dry mount press, so most of them have water damage. My husband and I HAVE two metal flat file cabinets in our basement that we use for "junk" of ours. Trust me, these flat files will be installed in the store SOON! Another plus for the preservation of customers' work is the storing of them UNDER counters. They were somewhat shielded from water and fire. Somewhat.

Bob Carter--we are working on how to respond to customers in this situation. MOST, so far, are understanding. A few have "issues." I have already let those know that the insurance company may determine that their work is worth only the expence of the materials used to crreate it. I will NOT be left holding the "bag" for these people looking for a Hand-Out! I intend on giving customers involved in the fire a Gift Card of $50-75, just as a Thank-You and an acknowledgement. But people need to realize, if they have no proof, they are S*** out of luck! Not MY problem; I can pass it off to the insurance company! If I loose those people as customers, I'm better off for it!

Framing Goddess--my insurance company is One Beacon. The question is not whether I would retain them, but how FAST will they drop ME, once this is done with? MOST insurance companies drop clients who have made a major claim, because they consider us a Bad Risk. Stupid, as lightning strikes SO rarely twice, that you'd be better off playing the lottery! We had a disaster once; what are the chances we will again? The companies would be BETTER to insure us again, at a CUT RATE! But that's not the case.

My independent agent has been great throughout this. He's been our family agent for over 25 years. He'll find us a new, BETTER company to serve us once this is done! So far, I like the policy, though I might up the "Fine Arts" liabilty to cover over $10,000.

The blog has been PRICELESS! I have customers calling every day and apologizing for doing so! But they are anxious and I can understand that. They have NO idea the daunting task we have ahead of us, and have already been through. And I hope they don't have to go through it EVER!

Thanks all,
Wendy
 
Wendy, I've been so consumed with my own "stuff" that I missed this, and I can't think of anything more horrifying than what you're going through...fire, one our biggest nightmares! Holy cow, what you must be dealing with....I can't even imagine. At least my stuff is about how to get back on track, and not about how to replace/value customers' precious things.

My prayers are with you, and if I can do anything to help, when I can....I will. It's about paying back what's been given.

What do you need??? Please let us know!

Grumblers!!! Another family member needs help here! Let's rally around another one!!
 
Wendy, I'm really torn. On the one hand, I'm completely upset that you have been going through this. Just awful!

On the other hand, this is a very important learning experience for everyone here, and I'm grateful that you have shared it with us. The more information, the better. I'm going to be taking a hard look at my liability policy, and using your experience to make sure that my insurance protects me should something similar happen.
 
Val,

Stop worrying about other people. You have a free pass to be selfish for a while. Now go to bed!!!!!!!

And if you need anything, my number is 650-638-1203. You are forbidden to be shy.
 
You would think someone who had been through something like this would be less of a liabilty to insure since they would have learned from their experience and be taking extra precautions in the future. Too bad the insurance companies don't see it that way.
 
I'm thinking that Decor or PFM needs a series of articles covering this scenario. From you guys' reaction and those that I recieved on the Framers Forum, this is an issue that few of us have been through, but it IS, believe me, our collective WORST NIGHTMARE! I've been procrastinating on calling customers and informing them of their work's plight, but I've also been "positioning" myself to best deal with them if they are recalcitrant over the situation. I'm thinking--do I call the "easy" ones first or the "hard" ones? I think the "hard" ones, so I can get their pain behind me, then the rest will be a "cake walk." I have started lists of customers' names and their work.

Now to the HARD part. Assessing the customers' evaluations compared to the insurance companies evaluations. It's the razor-thin edge of a sword on which I walk, because, not only has my Public Adjuster never dealt with Artwork, but my Insurance Company Adjuster hasn't either. As far as I know. We may be surprised, but I'm ready for that, too. I have "people." Some "big" names to call on, if necessary.

I'm ready and loaded for Bear! Hrmm--not YOU, Baer!

Thanks, all!
Wendy
 
We now have a Pistorius KF chopper inhouse and a bunch of Larson corner samples. I'm waiting for the Decor ones, too. I have a Fletcher 60" mat cutter on order, and I have a C&H wall cutter that survived the fire because it was in the cellar and received minimum water /rust damage. A liberal spraying of WD 40 has helped, as with the chopper, as it was in a woman's basement for a few years.

I'm going to use mainly Artique matting, with Bainbridge Alpha as a back-up, as opposed to the opposite as was used in the burned out location.

Artique "claims" to be the same quality as Bainbridge, but is much less $. If anyone has any evidence to refute this, I'm a willing listener. Bainbridge has the "reputation," but only within our field. The average customer doesn't know Alpha from Honda, or Larson from Epson!

We've salvaged all the glass, which was somewhat protected as it was all under counters. I'm not concerned about the regular glass, as heat and fire never really touched it, and if it did, it's GLASS! Unless it melts; it's okay. I AM worried about the coatings on the UV and Museum glass, however, but we rescued those cases, too, and will experiment. Just not with customers' work...

We also have been moving moulding out, a little at a time. We're thinking seriously, though, that we need to really take the bull by the horns and rent a storage space and a van and gather a bunch of friends and move out ALL the moulding to the storage and then sit on it for a LEAST three months and see what it all does.

Mold, smoke odor, cracking and peeling finishes, warping. Any moulding that survives all those challenges will be brought back into stock. The rest will be trashed. As far as the insurance company is concerned, our Public Adjuster says he'll claim it all, and we can try to salvage what we can. The insurance company has bigger fish to fry than to go over every stick with us three months from now.

Wendy
 
WE RE-OPEN IN 10 HOURS!

We haven't a phone line in place, yet, except for the cell phone which we had switched to the store number the first week. We can hook up our credit card processor to the new phone line, but we will have to go through all the steps to set up the account, and we are not sure how long that will take.

We are still waiting for our new mat cutter, and all the Decor corner samples I ordered. We have our Larson samples in place.

We'll be "open," but only in a VERY limited capacity. How long did it take you, Dave, to actually BE open for business, as opposed to "4 days" to find a new location?

Wendy
 
Wendy, I dont live too far from you, if you need any help moving stuff or anything, my days off are thurs and sun, let me know. I have access to a truck :)

Im surprised i never heard about this on the news... Im glad noone got hurt!
 
I'm going to use mainly Artique matting, with Bainbridge Alpha as a back-up, as opposed to the opposite as was used in the burned out location.


Wendy

Interesting point. We are moving more and more towards Artique for this very reason, but will always keep some basic Bainbridge stock for the zeolites. Valuable works get framed with Bainbridge, and it is usually 4 ply white, which, according to LJ, is our number one seller.

Wendy, when you are open, give me your shop name. We have friends in Swampscott. I'll refer them when all is settled.

PhotoKris, what town are you in? Our daughter is in her senior year at Curry College in Milton.

I love Boston. We will be there in again in May for graduation. Anyone else we can visit?

Carry on...
 
PhotoKris--

I have a Jeep Cherokee and my brother has a new Compass and my friend has an Escot station wagon. We loaded all of the above with "rescued" moulding Sunday and brought them to my mother's clean, DRY basement, to sit for a few months and *age.* Like wine. Or cheese. We need to see what develops from the *aging.* Smoke smell? Crackling? MORE mildew? (Lysol is a WONDERFUL thing!)

AS far as Artique is concerned, I think Bainbridge gave out an idea that more and more companies are "horning" in on. Peterboro is doing the same thing. Both Peterboro and Artique are claiming to be the same "archival" quality as Bainbridge, while being 50 cents to a dollar or so less.

AGAIN, the "branding" being done by Bainbridge is ONLY within the industry, so is preaching to the converted. At least Larson-Juhl has been reaching out to the masses through the designer and home fashion magazines. Money well spent, I might add...

Kirstie--did your daughter have Maria Bacigalupo as a teacher at Curry? Maria is the sister of the fellow I bought the Art Corner from. Small world.

The Art Corner's new address is 231 Washington Street, Salem, MA. 978-745-9524 www.theartcorner.blogspot.com
 
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