Nederland, and area, residents welcomed the news that the town’s only grocery store reopened after a fire last week gutted the Caribou Village Shopping Center and 18 businesses.

“Nederland is a resilient community”, said Andrew Dewitt, chair of the Nederland Downtown Development Authority, as he talked with reporters in the produce aisle of B&F Mountain Market on Monday.

Outside the store, members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives national response team continued investigation of the devastating fire.

B&F Mountain Market, which shares a parking lot with the shopping center, reopened on Monday, just days after the fire. Only a handful of parking spaces were available for the grocery store, the rest were covered in debris and investigators as cleanup begins.
“This is the largest grocery store in town,” Dewitt said, “This is the place where people do their shopping. To have this place open is important.”

Though the fire may have destroyed as much as 30% of the town’s businesses in terms of sale tax revenue, Dewitt emphasized the toll on the people of the town.

“30 percent, 40 percent, whatever it is, these people had things that can’t be replaced. That’s the real tragedy here.” Dewitt said. “I’m still in shock trying to take it in.”

Zach Shepard, assistant store manager at B&F, came in on his day off for some groceries and to support the store. Shepard said the store’s opening was huge for the community, since it’s one of the only grocery stores in a 20-30 mile radius.

“It’s just devastating,” Shepard said, looking out at the destroyed shopping center. “They’re all mom and pop stores, there weren’t any chain stores, it’s all locally owned”