WACO, TX — The 2021 Texas winter storm brought long term damages to many.
Spice Village in downtown Waco is still closed due to a pipe that broke on the third floor which flooded the second and first floors below.
"It brought me to my knees, and I cried, just in unbelief," owner Jennifer Wilson said.
Wilson owns Spice Village, a shop filled with a collection of shops, 60 of them to be exact, all owned by Central Texans.
Wilson has kept Spice Village open for 24 years. Unfortunately, that all came to a halt after the storm.
"The devastation that it was doing right before my eyes, I couldn't stop it. The water had been turned off but obviously the water had to continue running through the pipes until it's gone," Wilson said.
Her heart was breaking for her tenants as many saw Spice Village as their livelihood.
"It was a big surprise, kind of a shock a huge shock," tenant and owner of Tradinghouse Design, Jason Brenton said.
At home, he was dealing with power outages and no water. Little did he know he'd be dealing with bigger problems at work.
"My wife and I we were discussing we can't wait for spring; March is just a few weeks away at that time and that's our biggest time for this store," Brenton said.
Although the damages have kicked every tenant out, Wilson and Brenton are keeping their heads high looking toward the future.
"We're hoping, ya know 6 months and we'll be back better and bigger than ever," Wilson said.
"We're definitely part of the Spice family and we're definitely going to come back here," Brenton said.
Spice Village has become a big family over the years and now they're all spending time together clearing the building for new floors to be put in.
Even though it'll be half a year until they can be back, they plan to open a temporary location soon.
Between a pandemic, snow storm and now this, Wilson is realizing many life lessons as a business owner.
"It just kind of makes you aware of the fact that things will happen and can happen and right here this is proof of it," Wilson said.
Be sure to follow Spice Village on their social media pages for when they announce where and when their temporary village will open.
