MILFORD, Ohio (WXIX) – Several Milford businesses are trying to recover after an explosion behind a gun shop last week shut them down.
The explosion erupted from a shed behind “Just Guns and Ammo” before extending to neighboring businesses.
“We have nothing left. Every physical thing we had connecting us to our family is gone. It’s gone and it’s heartbreaking,” said Brandy Weiss.
Weiss’s family owns Gemini Pools and the entire building which houses other businesses as well.
All of them now have ‘closed’ signs posted on their doors and the business owners don’t know if they will be able to open again.
Weiss was in line to take over Gemini Pools which was started by her late grandparents 41 years ago.
“What should have been able to be passed down for generations, I can’t right now,” said Weiss.
The business was caught in the crosshairs of the explosion.
“It shifted the actual building,” said Weiss.
Her 13-year-old daughter, mother and uncle were all in the store at the time.
All three were able to make it out of the building safely, but the damage was extensive.
“You can see the chemical bottles. The heat it blew the top of the bottle off and melted the chemicals around the bottle,” said Weiss.
She says only one thing was untouched.
“Was a picture of my grandparents from their 50th wedding anniversary. Everything all around it fell but where that picture was, it was the only thing that was untouched so being in here is heartbreaking but I do feel my grandparents letting me know it’s okay,” she said.
Weiss and her family are now out of thousands of dollars during what should have been their busiest season.
“We were on track this year to have the best year we’ve had in the last 10 years,” said Weiss.
Now, her family’s business is facing an unclear future.
“We have fought for 41 years through recessions, economy, the boom of the internet, we have fought through every hurdle thrown at us and managed to keep it going and now we are at a roadblock. Do we keep going or do we let it go?” said Weiss.
Weiss and her family are not giving up just yet. They are partnering with local businesses to do fundraisers and have a GoFundMe set up to help the family to get their business back up and running.
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