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Masin says fire won't stop him

By Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, December 23, 2001

BELLEVUE, Wash. — A three-alarm fire destroyed the Masin's Furniture store here last week, sending some $2.5 million worth of high-end furniture and antiques up in smoke.

The 14,000-square-foot facility, which Masin's had occupied since 1990, was destroyed along with five other adjoining businesses. The store was closed and no one was in the building when the fire started in the early morning of Dec. 17, said Bob Masin, president and principal owner of the third-generation, two-store family business.

Masin, who was vacationing with his family in Hawaii on the day of the fire, said he and his staff already have begun scouting Bellevue and other suburbs east of Seattle for a new store location.

"This won't stop us," he said.

He said his company was leasing the building, but the store's entire inventory, as well as the office equipment and personal effects of his employees, were lost. Most of the loss should be covered by insurance, he said.

John Stevens, the company's public relations director, said the Bellevue store's nine interior designers and seven other employees will work out of Masin's main store in Seattle until the new location is ready.

Stevens said the company, which was founded in 1926, has had a store in the Bellevue area since 1980. It had occupied the now-gutted building since November 1990.

Masin's is regarded as the premiere high-end furniture retailer in the Seattle market, and Bob Masin is a former president of the National Home Furnishings Assn.

"This is not a real busy time of year for our designers because no one wants to start a new project in December, but it still hurts because we can't service the customers who want to buy that extra lamp … or make some other type of instant-gratification purchase," Masin said. "That's where this really hurts us."

Masin said he was awakened by a phone call at 4:30 a.m., Hawaii time, telling him the store was on fire.

He was able to catch a flight to Seattle later that day, but decided to rejoin his family in Hawaii late last week after surveying the damage and consulting with his staff.

The fire was the second misfortune to strike Masin's this year.

In February, the Seattle store was damaged by an earthquake, and Masin said he still hasn't settled the insurance claim from that incident.

"Now I'm waiting for the flood," he quipped.

Masin

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