Rob and Jayleen Rice returned to Fort McMurray a week ago to get their Home Hardware store ready for what was sure to be an influx of customers – once the city’s residents started coming home.
They worked 14-hour days, sleeping on the floor of the store’s boardroom to make the most of their time.
“We want to help them. We want to help them rebuild and help them gain whatever they lost back,” Jayleen, who was born and raised in Fort McMurray, said of her community.
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Residents started coming home on Wednesday. The Rices said the first day back in business was a bit hectic. The store sold 50 fridges on the first day of re-entry. Normally, the hardware store sells 100 fridges in an entire year.
There are several other hot-ticket items on everyone’s list.
“The number one thing is furnace filters. Everybody needs a new furnace filter,” Rob said. “And they buy multiple ones because they want to keep changing them.
“Then after that it’s appliances. People want appliances, and then cleaning supplies.”
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While there’s no shortage of customers, the store isn’t running at full staff yet. With 60 staff members total, the store usually has 40 people working on any given day. But because most of the employees have not yet returned to Fort McMurray, nine people are currently running everything.
“Everybody is just working their tails off just to help out,” Rob said. “I think it’s just going to get busier and busier. It’s just going to be crazier.”
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While it’s a lot of work, the Rices are just happy the store is up and running, serving their community. The couple said it’s nice to see everyone again and know they’re OK.
“I’m looking forward to seeing more people. We have regular customers that come in here every single day,” Rob said.
“They want to talk and they want to hear our story” Jayleen added. “We want to hear their story and just touch base with them, be a community again, just talk to people.”
About 7,500 people returned to Fort McMurray on Wednesday, the first day of the phased re-entry. Another 20,000 people were expected to return Thursday, with the re-entry process set to be complete by June 21.
Not all services are up and running. The province wants residents to know the Fort McMurray they’re returning to will look much different from the community they left. But it appears there’s no shortage of people who want to help bring it back to what it once was.
“I never had a doubt. The day we left, we were trying to get back here. We want to start that rebuilding process and we care about it. It’s our community,” Rob said.
Watch below: What went into restoring Fort McMurray ahead of residents’ return?