PINE GROVE, Pa. -- Lehr's Feed and Farm Supplies Store in Pine Grove has reopened.
On May 1, 2017, Lehr's Feed and Farm Supplies store in Pine Grove caught fire. The entire business was destroyed.
"The closer we got, the blacker the smoke got, and the more my heart sank," store owner Mark Lehr said. "When we got here, it was fully engulfed in flames, and we watched for an hour or two, and then we just left because it was too depressing to see."
After nearly a year, the store has finally reopened. The entire time the Lehrs were rebuilding, they worried the store would never be the same.
"Will the community come back to us?" Lehr said. "Should we just maybe forget and walk away?"
However, the family had nothing to worry about. Customers came out in full force to support them on their first day.
"It was kind of traumatic when the mill burned, and we've been kind of looking forward to them opening," Sherry Stoner of Pine Grove said.
The shelves are not fully stocked yet. The Lehrs hope to have more inventory in by the end of the week. The Lehrs make their own products inside the store.
"We have our own line of bird seeds and livestock seeds and feeds we make and they were asking for them," Lehr said. "They just like the quality and the homemade aspect of it, so we're back."
The customers said it's that type of service that keeps them coming back.
"Frankly, you see a lot of chains come through," Donald Lengel of Pine Grove said. "Yeah, they offer a lot of convenience and a lot of glitz, but there's something nice with the personal touch you get here."
The Lehrs plan to host a customer appreciation day on May 5 to thank their customers for their loyalty.