One year ago Friday, a Munroe Falls landmark was destroyed by fire. On that one-year anniversary, the Cornerstone Market is celebrating a victory with its grand re-opening.
Newsnet5.com's Corrina Pysa was there the morning the fire broke out and went back to mark this special anniversary.
Owners Nick and Stefanie Bartolone say it has been a roller coaster of a year and a test of faith, full of ups and downs. Ultimately, they're just happy to be back. And so is the community.
On the corner of Northmoreland and South Main, the Cornerstone Market is welcoming foot traffic with fully stocked shelves and opening its doors to familiar faces.
“We love them tasting oranges or tasting cantaloupes and to see their faces and get in the store,” shared Nick. But a year ago, it was a very different story.
“Misery,” he said, referring to the moment they found out their nearly 75-year family business had gone up in flames in the middle of the night. “I mean, it was the roughest thing we've probably been through. I would consider it almost like losing a family member.”
“We didn't really realize how much people loved us until we were gone,” Stefanie said.
Now, out of that loss comes a new beginning. In the early morning hours after the fire broke out, as the smoke still rose, one of the first things we witnessed was the market's sign out front being changed to reflect scripture.
Specifically referencing Isaiah 28:16, which, appropriately, references the cornerstone laid in Zion, and addresses belief and not being shaken.
“Faith got us through a whole year of misery; so I mean we put our heads in the Bible for a year,” Nick explained.
And they rebuilt, bigger and better than before.
“I mean, everything came through just like it should've been planned originally,” he told us. “We would've never done it if we had no fire.”
Longtime customers, like Peggy Minor, couldn't be happier.
“When it reopened, I thought oh, I can hardly wait to get in here!”
But it isn't all new.
“This corner, this is the only corner of the building that we saved,” Nick said, pointing out the one remaining piece of the old structure.
For the Bartolones, it serves as a sentimental reminder of what used to be.
“We built it from the ground up,” he said. It is a symbolic representation of unshakable faith, no matter the uncertainty of tomorrow.
The cause of the fire was never determined, but lightning is suspected.
