![\"Owner](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/STT-L-FREEDLOVE-1029-02.jpg\")
Owner of Freedlove Nadine Bryant holds up a few of items for sale in her clothing store on Biden Street in downtown Scranton Wednesday, October 28, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\nSCRANTON \u2014 After two water main breaks dealt a devastating blow to downtown businesses in July, Nadine Bryant faced an arduous task to reopen her women\u2019s clothing shop.<\/p>\n
The first water main break \u2014 near the intersection of North Washington Avenue and Mulberry Street on July 16 \u2014\u00a0 affected approximately 620 customers and forced several downtown businesses to close for multiple days.<\/p>\n
Owner of Freedlove Nadine Bryant holds up a few of items for sale in her clothing store on Biden Street in downtown Scranton Wednesday, October 28, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\n
Bryant\u2019s store, Freedlove, 532 Biden St., sustained significant damage as water leaked through the ceiling.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to remove all of my inventory \u2014 every single thing,\u201d Bryant said. \u201cThey had to rip up all the floors, pull down my fixtures, scrape the ceilings and walls, and then replaster and paint them. There were also some structural issues that needed to be fixed. It was a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
The second break \u2014 on the 200 block of North Washington Avenue on July 27 \u2014 affected about 770 customers. Crews worked overnight to complete repairs by the next morning.<\/p>\n
Bryant spent countless hours working \u201cnonstop\u201d during the following weeks to assess the damage and determine the next steps.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt took three weeks to salvage what I could and come up with a game plan,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen the second one hit, we were still working to salvage things. We didn\u2019t get more water (damage), but we couldn\u2019t use water when we were trying to clean up. It was very frustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to the lost inventory, keeping the store closed for three months also impacted business, Bryant said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI lost the summer season and now we\u2019re almost at the tail end of fall, so I\u2019m kind of missing that season as well,\u201d she added. \u201cIt\u2019s been hard to kind of come back and piece it all together.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Bryant pushed forward and reopened this past Saturday \u2014 for the Electric City Fall Festival in downtown Scranton \u2014 offering many items at a 50% discount after being closed since July 20.<\/p>\n
She welcomed many regular customers along with patrons making their way around the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a very wild ride,\u201d Bryant said. \u201cOriginally, I didn\u2019t know if I would even be coming back. I\u2019m really taking it day by day. It took a lot out of me, especially physically. I say my heart\u2019s in it, but physically I\u2019m struggling. It\u2019s been a long road trying to get back into the swing of things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bryant opened Freedlove in Scranton in 2011 and never seriously considered relocating the store despite the challenges this summer and fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I first opened, I worked with an architect on the space and put a lot of money into it, and this is where the people know me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Bryant received both a financial and spiritual boost in late July when droves of customers showed up to purchase products during a pop-up sale intended to clear out clothes so interior repairs could begin.<\/p>\n
Planned as a three-day sale, all the inventory sold out in a day as a line weaved down the block. The response was both shocking and heartwarming, Bryant said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was wonderful,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard work running a small business, especially in retail, and that makes you realize you\u2019re appreciated. I just feel supported and you realize what your business means to the community. I always think of this as a place where I want people to come in, take them out of their daily life and be able to find something that brings them joy. It\u2019s kind of what this business has always been.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the inventory continues to evolve, Bryant noted it\u2019s geared toward a younger crowd but added that her clientele spans many age ranges.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have customers all the way up to their 80s,\u201d she said. \u201cI like to try to have something for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liz Baldi, business development director for Scranton Tomorrow, a nonprofit community and economic development organization, praised Bryant\u2019s determination to revive Freedlove.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know it takes a lot, and I\u2019m sure she was under a lot of stress and had a lot of details to go over, but it really meant a lot to her to be able to open back up downtown,\u201d Baldi said.\u00a0\u201cShe has such a strong following and the community really rallied behind her and showed her great support, including her neighboring businesses. Everybody just gave her the encouragement to want to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Baldi believes the camaraderie between shop owners adds to the allure of establishing a business in the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey work together and we\u2019re thrilled she persevered and made the choice to stay downtown,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s truly a story of resilience.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SCRANTON \u2014 After two water main breaks dealt a devastating blow to downtown businesses in July, Nadine Bryant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316388,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[60,201,182,28,436,178,180,179,181],"class_list":["post-316387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-business","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-retail","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-stt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}