After a rural New Brunswick community’s only grocery burned down eight months ago, residents were shuttled to the nearest city to buy food and necessities.

Now, Salisbury, N.B., is celebrating the grand reopening of their Independent store on Friday.

“Most folks that live in this town and this community, the shoppers travel to get here already so it covers about a 15-km (radius),” said owner, James Walker.

“So for folks that live in this area, this grocery store is everything to them. They don’t want to go to Moncton for groceries because with the price of gas and everything, it’s devastating.”

The Walkers have hired back most of the previous staff, in addition to some new hires. They say they’re also overwhelmed by the community support they’ve received since the fire.

Store employee Linda Horsman said she was devastated last September when she found out her workplace of 12 years was on fire.

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“I got a message on my phone (that) said ‘sorry for your loss.’ I looked on Facebook and saw it was up in flames. I cried. I was heartbroken,” she said.

Walker said the fire happened just one week after they bought the store.

The assistant manager called and sent him a picture of the building ablaze.

“She sent me a picture and I was like to my wife, ‘It’s not going to be good when we get there.’ For the 20-minute drive, we could see the fire and the smoke for miles,” he recalled.

“I could see the tears in my wife’s eyes. Wasn’t good for sure.”

It took fire crews six hours to put out the blaze. The structure had to be completely knocked down, although firefighters were able to save the adjacent strip mall.

The store had been part of the community since the early 1980s and employed more than 40 people.

Mayor Robert Campbell told Global News last September how important the grocery store was for the community.

“It’s more than a grocery store,” he said. “The economic impact Í think is going to resonate quickly.”

The store will officially reopen at 8 a.m. Friday with a full day of events planned, including a barbecue and entertainment.

— with a file from Reeti Meenakshi Rohilla

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