EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The owner of a small antique boutique in West El Paso — forced to close down after being flooded — is thankful that the strain on her business has allowed her to connect with customers who have offered their help, and whom she said she now calls friends.
“There are just amazing people here in El Paso. I’m very thankful and grateful for them. Not only have I opened a business. I’ve met some great people, become friends, and now we’re kind of like a family,” Terrie Valle, the owner of Country Girls With Pearls Resale Boutique, said.
Valle said that her boutique, located at 7930 N. Mesa, was flooded on Wednesday, Nov. 19, by water that she said came from a business located next door that she said has been doing some construction.
She said her shop was almost completely flooded within just a couple of minutes, and it caused thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to her inventory. She said most of the items she was unable to salvage were items made of wood, leather, and fur.
“Closing our business during the holidays is pretty hard. The lack of sales that’s the first problem. Then everything that I had placed on or near the floor we had to throw away,” Valle said.
Valle said that some of her cabinets and shelves made of wood were also damaged.
She said she has been forced to remain closed over the past week, but that while she was initially upset and uncertain on how she would overcome the situation, she said she received an outpour of support from both new and longtime customers that has allowed her to view the situation differently and with optimism that she may reopen faster than she anticipated.
“Customers have come in almost every day since this happened to ask whether I need help,” Valle said. “I had a gentleman who is a customer of ours come in with his carpet cleaner, ready to help us. I don’t even like to call them customers anymore. They are my friends now.”
Valle said that the next-door business from where the flood originated has also been very helpful, as well as the owner of the strip mall, who she said had been very understanding and waived her rent for a month.
“What I can say is that I can accept what happened because so many people stepped up and helped when they didn’t even have to,” Valle said.
Valle said that she continues to sift through items to see what is still salvageable, but that because of the support she has received, she has been able to move in the recovery process faster than expected. She said she is optimistic that she will be able to reopen her boutique on Black Friday, just in time for the busy start to the holiday sales season.
We still have a lot of cleaning to do, but my family is here to help me. So, I’m very grateful for that. I think we’ll be ready on Friday,” Valle said. “Every morning, I wake up, and I feel like I’m the luckiest person alive. I get to do what I love, which is all kinds of vintage items. I travel out of town, hand-pick vintage items, and bring them here to the community, and meet all these kind people in El Paso.”
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