SAN ANTONIO — The owner of a south side thrift store is on the path to rebuilding with the help of the community after a fire destroyed the inside of her business Wednesday night.
“It’s quite a mess in there, it’s pretty bad,” said Jennifer Elizondo of Jen’s Korner Closet.
San Antonio firefighters responded to the 4100 block of Pleasanton Road around 10 p.m.
The fire ripped through a portion of the business, causing extensive damage throughout. No injuries were reported. Elizondo said she learned of the fire through a neighboring business who called her. That’s Elizondo and her fiancée rushed to the store and witnessed the devastation.
“It’s charcoal black in there, you can’t really even identify some of the items,” Elizondo said. “Shelves were melted, hangars, all the clothes on the floor where the hangers melted, just the hooks are left on the bars.”
Since 2022, Jen’s Korner Closet has offered a wealth of items, including gently used clothing, baby items, toys, and much more, all at low-prices.
A portion of sales goes to a savings account for Elizondo’s brother, Rick, who’s in need of a new kidney and battling cancer.
“He does dialysis three times a week so they’re trying to shrink the cancer cells that he has. He’s fighting that and will have to be cancer free before he gets his transplant,” Elizondo said.
While Elizondo is fighting for the health of her brother, she’s also dealing with the financial struggles of rebuilding her business.
One of her customers set up a GoFundMe campaign, hoping to raise $10,000 for various expenses related to the fire at Jen’s Korner Closet. Elizondo stressed she's keeping positive thanks to family, friends and loyal customers.
“Insurance, unfortunately because of the cost of inflation, I did fall behind a month, so there is no insurance coverage,” Elizondo said. “Everybody’s been very supportive and pushing me to like, we’ll help you, we’ll help you clean, we’ll help you get it going again.”
To learn more about the GoFundMe, go here.