Rehabilitation is currently ongoing at the 130 Regent Street location, which housed the store prior to it being destroyed during an early morning fire on October 18. The fire which erupted at Household Plus, destroyed that store as well as Chino Variety, Slim Jet, Fullworths General Store and Wireless Connections. These stores were located on the southern side of Regent Street, between Orange Walk and Cummings Street.
The Guyana Fire Service launched an investigation into the blaze after initial suspicions that it was deliberately set.
As the investigations continued Fire Chief Marlon Gentle told this newspaper that, while it was still early to make any conclusions, the Fire Service was unearthing further evidence which suggested that the fire was an act of arson.
Recent efforts to contact Gentle for an update on the state of the investigations proved futile.
Thom, however, told this newspaper that these investigations are still ongoing and disclosed that the Fire Service has been keeping him up to date with its progress.
The proprietor said he was willing to accept the pace of the investigations since he preferred a lengthy investigation which was thorough rather than a hasty one which was not detailed.
Thom said the fire had really set back his business and also affected his employees who were not earning while he was rebuilding.
He said he was really sorry for his staff since many of them had their families to care for. On the morning of the fire, Thom told Stabroek News that he had about 20 employees at that location and that he would have to let go of some of them.
However, the proprietor said he has retained his staff and hopes that the business will thrive during the upcoming Christmas season. He has had to rebuild without any assistance from insurance companies.
Prior to the store going up in flames, the businessman was able to safely remove a few truck loads of items from the building but still lost valuable stock, which was uninsured.
Thom has been operating at the lot 130 Regent Street Location for the last fours years, and it is one of three Wireless Connections stores.
Nine days before, a fire which erupted at Household Electronics completely destroyed that store, a bond behind the store, the home of an elderly man and his reputed wife, while gutting the top flat of DM Beauty World. These stores were located on Regent Street between Albert and Light streets.
Initial reports into this blaze suggested that it was electrical in origin. However, after the second fire, the first fire came under greater scrutiny since two brothers had property destroyed in each of the fires.
Household Electronics is owned by Shaheed Hamid while his brother Nazir Hamid is the proprietor of Household Plus.
The operations of Household Electronics have since been relocated to a building next door to the original store.
