Thousands of dollars worth of jewellery has been ruined in a Hastings Street store after a water filter burst and flooded the shop.
Eumundi’s Lilli Frey was all smiles at the grand opening of her store, Freya Fine Jewels, in August this year.
She was shocked to see water flowing out from underneath her store door last week, causing extensive damage and an unsafe workspace.
“The water filter burst… and then all of the water just poured through into my shop and it saturated everything,” Lilli said.
“The first thing we saw was water all over the entire entrance to the food court and the next thing we saw was water just flowing out from underneath my store door. We could see water pouring through the light fittings.”
Lilli said she’s lost about 80 per cent of the store fit out, with cabinets and shelves destroyed.
“I’ve also lost about 40 per cent of my jewellery stock,” she said.
“The worst part of it is, I don’t have loss of trade insurance, and I can’t open because the whole store smells damp and mouldy. At the moment I can’t let anyone in there because it’s not safe.
“We’ve just started the Christmas season and I was expecting it to be the time to make back some of the money we spent setting up the shop.
“It’s just been a massive shock. Everything was just starting to work in our favour and suddenly we’re back at square one with massive financial loss that we won’t be able to cover.”
Although she would like to move the business to another location to open for the Christmas period, Lilli said it’s not as easy to pack up and move as there are leases to navigate.
“The heart of our business is connecting with our customers on a personal level and it’s not quite the same through a website,” she said.
“The undamaged stock is on our website and that’s how the community can support us to get us through the Christmas season until the extensive repairs are done to the building structure.”
To shop online to support the local business visit freyanoosa.com.au
