Christie’s leadership working on plans to reopen after fire

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This article was published 22/05/2018 (2695 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Even while the Christie’s Office Plus building burned to the ground on Saturday, its leadership was already planning how they would get the company up and running again.

So described sales representative Hatti Foster, who has served the 137-year-old Brandon-based company for 13 years.

A press release owner Travis Chastko issued on Sunday afternoon reinforced this sentiment, reading that they were working with those in their buying group to ensure customers experienced as minimal disruption as possible.

This doesn’t mean they aren’t leaving the now-levelled historic building at 705 Pacific Ave. without a heavy heart.

“The saddest part of this whole thing for us at Christie’s is that we’ve lost so much of our history,” Foster said, pointing to both the building and the collection of historic artifacts held within as significant losses.

Built in 1907, the building was originally constructed to house the Hanbury Hardware Co.

Christie’s School Supply, now Christie’s Office Plus, subsequently took over the space, bringing various artifacts from their original Rosser Avenue location with them.

These included the first storefront door and “lots of interesting journals and books and antique desks and things like that,” Foster said.

All of this was lost in the fire over the weekend, the cause of which had yet to be determined by press time.

While most members of the public would have only visited the building’s main floor retail space, the four-storey building was being fully utilized.

“Every inch of space in that building” was filled with office and school supplies, Foster said, adding that most people in Brandon likely don’t realize how far-reaching the company is, supplying products to organizations throughout much of Canada.

This isn’t the first time Christie’s Office Plus has been impacted by fire.

In 2011, a fire from a nearby shantey got out of control and spread to the building’s exterior, causing smoke damage throughout.

Even then, business carried on at a temporary space nearby, while a few employees stayed behind at 705 Pacific Ave. to answer phones.

Although the losses this time around are far more severe, Foster said that a similar such effort was likely to take form in the coming days.

In the meantime, Foster said that she’d like to thank members of the public, and clients from across Canada, for their support.

“It’s been quite overwhelming the amount of people who are reaching out to us with support, and if there was any help we needed,” she said.

While the loss at Christie’s Office Plus was bad enough, she said her and others’ “hearts sunk” even more for low-income families forced out of their homes in the Massey Manor complex across the street from them.

Although Chastko declined additional comment at this time, his release noted that staff was working on reorganizing themselves to reopen, with additional details expected to come forward in the near future.

“Christie’s has been a prominent member of Brandon’s business community for many years, and intends to be here well into the future,” he said. “We truly appreciate all the messages of encouragement and support that have been received … They are really uplifting at a time like this.”

» tclarke@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB