Four days after a fire devastated Frager’s Hardware, the historic store reopened at a nearby site that served as a temporary location for Eastern Market after that business was devastated by fire.
Fragers, located at 1115 Pennsylvania Avenue, was feted at a ceremony that included Mayor Vincent Gray and Rep. Eleanor Homes Norton (D-D.C.). A host of Capitol Hill residents and Frager’s customers were on hand June 9 at 306 7th St. SE, where the store began operating again. While most of the inventory was lost in the four-alarm blaze that gutted the store on June 5, plants and outdoor inventory were not damaged.
Loyal customers snapped up whatever they could to help on June 9. Donations were also reportedly rolling in.
Store co-owner John Weintraub announced at the ceremony that he will rebuild, but while plans for construction remain underway, Frager’s will remain open for business via the Seventh Street SE location. The temporary store on Seventh Street SE will be open 7 days a week, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
The store reopened as the result of “an expedited agreement” between the store’s owner and the District, according to the D.C. government’s website.
“Frager’s Hardware is one of the most beloved businesses in the District, and none of us can imagine the Capitol Hill community without Frager’s,” said Gray on the website. “We wanted to ensure that the District did everything we could to help this locally owned and operated small business weather the hardship caused by this fire and continue serving its neighborhood and employing District residents as it rebuilds.”
Frager’s employs 65 people, the website said.
