It marks the first reopening of an Uptown business completely affected by the West Union Street fire.
Uptown Dog T-shirts became the first business to reopen this year following the fire that damaged six Union Street businesses three months ago.
Last week, the store opened the doors of its new location at 9 W. Union St, which is directly across the street from its previous building.
Uptown Dog will remain in its new location for at least one year, according to owner Mary Cheadle.
“It has been incredibly difficult,” Cheadle said of the move. “Hopefully this is the beginning of Union Street rising again.”
Uptown Dog occupied its former location for about 20 years. Cheadle said that space’s fate is still up in the air and will ultimately be decided by the building’s owners.
She said, though, the building is repairable.
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Uptown Dog lost nearly all its inventory due to water or smoke damage in the aftermath of the fire but has rebuilt everything it lost and more, Cheadle said. The store recently partnered Zach Traxler of Traxler Custom Printing in Columbus in order to expand its printing options.
“We’ve kind of joined forces and utilized his printing facility because he offers more from a custom printing standpoint than I was able to” Cheadle said, adding that she came to know Traxler after discovering he used to live in Athens. “He’s kind of helping us come up with a fresher face for the business.”
Uptown Dog is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.
@JeremyHTweets
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jh082913@ohio.edu
