Canal Furniture Liquidators is rising from the ashes of April's massive warehouse fire on Bayou St. John in New Orleans.
Owner Holis Hannan took WWL-TV on a tour of her new location on Jefferson Highway where she also teaches budding artists how to turn old furniture into things of beauty.
“We were just donated this whole room,” Hannan said pointing to her new space. “They gave us free rent for two months, which is so generous. We just separated where we paint. This is where we redo all the furniture.”
Hannan refused to let her dreams go up in smoke when her old store and art studio burned to the ground.
Like the furniture she repurposes, her business is now making a comeback.
“This is kind of for me, coming up for air and saying, ‘okay, we're here, we survived this,’” Hannan said.
Hannan admits she's been blessed by support from the community.
“The warehouse fell into our hands by a customer reaching out,” Hannan said.
Others have volunteered their time to help build out the new store and workshop.
“It's been a struggle at times,” Hannan said. “We found our place.”
On Friday, friends, customers and artists she's helped along the way held a fundraiser to help Hannan and Canal Furniture Liquidators get back on their feet.
The restaurant Treo hosted the event. Pauline Patterson, owner of the Tulane Avenue eatery is a big fan of the work Hannan does at her art studio.
“I like the idea that you can find art in every object,” Patterson said. “You can make something look beautiful again with just a little bit of imagination, a lick of paint and a little love.”
Organizers dubbed the fundraiser “Let's Get Lit.” It's also the theme of Canal Furniture Liquidators road to recovery.
“It's about lighting a fire and trying to start something new for us and keeping the fire burning,” Hannan said.
Investigators classified the cause of the warehouse fire as undetermined.
Paul Murphy can be reached at pmurphy@wwltv.com.