Video By Cooper Slough
By James Bell
Hays Post
Turning what could have been a tragedy into an opportunity Bling – located in Big Creek Crossing – reopened Monday after completing a full remodel of the location that has been closed since the store suffered water damage from a section of roof that collapsed last month in neighboring Payless Shoe Source.
While others may have used the incident as an excuse to leave the shopping center or Hays altogether, Bling decided instead to use the opportunity to remodel the location.
“Since we had all of that going on we decided, since we have to do it, we might as well change a few things,” said Sammy Grollmes, district manager.
Damage to the store included a total loss of merchandise and damage to walls and the ceiling.
“With everything that happened, it was devastating,” Grollmes said, but they wanted to come back with as much positivity as possible, utilizing a color scheme and fixtures that match other locations within the small chain.
“Now with our new look, it is the same color scheme that we have in our new Wichita location and also our Manhattan store,” she said. “We had the opportunity to unify our look for this space.”
While completely overhauling the 900 square foot space was a lot of hard work, she said they are pleased with the outcome.
“We’re really really happy with the new look. It brightens everything up and opens up the space,” Grollmes said.
After being in Hays for five years, moving the location was not something the chain of six stores wanted to do.
“The thing about the mall in Hays is traffic wise, this is the most visible and the best location for us,” Grollmes said. “I know the mall has its controversial issues, but what is nice is what we get to see in this space and we’re right here in the center court, I believe that we get to see and help more people in this location. That’s why we came back.”
The chain has stores in Garden City, Salina, Manhattan, Wichita and their original location in Scott City, expanding quickly after opening in 2008.
“I believe we are the largest women’s boutique clothing company in the state that is privately owned,” Grollmes said.
The size of the chain meant tackling the remodel was a little more difficult than the larger retailers that have corporate support, but the chain’s and BCC insurance covered the cost of the damage.
It also allowed the staff to continue being paid during the down time.
“We want to be able to take care of the people that work for us. That was really important and we were happy we had the stuff in place to do that,” Grollmes said.
“It’s a lot of money to come back from something like that.”
After the closure, Grollmes said their number one concern was the safety of the space, but were informed there are no current safety concerns with the roof, but negativity towards the incident was disheartening.
“It was really hard to read all the comments on the articles after this happened.”
But now they are ready to once again serve the people of Hays.
“We’re happy to be back, and be able to serve our customers,” Grollmes said.
A grand-reopening celebration is planned for Saturday, including a contest for passes to Kansas City Schlitterbahn Water Park. For details, or to find out more about Bling follow them on facebook or instagram.