Flood causes Everything Floral to relocate to East Dundee

The flood that damaged Debbie Heiman's flower shop in West Dundee turned out to be somewhat of a blessing in disguise.

After being out of a home for several months, Everything Floral will soon reopen in a newly renovated East Dundee building at 543 E. Main St., less than a mile from its original location. "We are working at full steam just trying to get everything organized," Heiman said. "It's an amazing location. I'm very happy to be part of this building."

In October, a hot water heater pipe sprung a leak and flooded the West Dundee building at 122 W. Main St., where Everything Floral opened 10 years ago, Heiman said. After realizing how long it would take to fix the damage, Heiman started looking elsewhere.

"With the scope of the damage, we couldn't survive here," she said. "We thought it would be better and safer for our customers to go to a new location."

In February, Otto Engineering President Tom Roeser purchased and started renovating the East Dundee building. Before Everything Floral, a dry cleaner was the building's only tenant, but Roeser said he had been searching for other offices and complementary commercial businesses - such as a flower shop - to move in.

When Heiman expressed interest, Roeser said, he continued with "made-to-suit" renovations inside the space, building a freezer and countertops that would be pertinent to Everything Floral.

"We tried to stay local in our base of customers because we made a lot of friends here and didn't want to leave," Heiman said. "When (Roeser) told us he was renovating it and what he would do for us, we knew for sure this was our new home."

In an easy-to-access location with a large parking lot. Heiman said she hopes her shop will bring in a slew of new customers after its opening, which will likely occur next week. Updates will be posted on the business' Facebook page.

In the meantime, she said, Everything Floral is still offering its delivery service.

Roeser said he anticipates business to grow for Heiman in her new location.

"This is the rebirth of an old building," Roeser said. "It's starting to renew that area (of East Dundee)."