Five months after a fire caused an estimated 400–thousand dollar in damages,
Peoria's Metro Centre bounces back.
And as News 25's Denise Jackson shows us,
Three of five new stores planned for the plaza have opened, bringing more jobs to the area.
Vern Avery retired from Mitsubishi six months ago. Now while his wife works...he helps her fulfill a dream.
"We'd go on vacation and my wife and a lot of her friends were in a store like this and so that's something she wanted to try one day.
So I did a lot of research and finding supplier so here we are," Avery said.
Bags and Company is among the handful of shops, opening in the Metro Centre in Peoria.
Michele Wilson and Pam Dillon used their experience as buyers to create the Metro Plantation.
"It's been good, just being new we didn't really know what to expect but the whole holiday season was wonderful," Wilson said.
Since November the Metro Centre's undergone remodeling due to damages in a fire.
Metro Centre President Eric Brinker says marketing the plaza to local entrepreneurs has been successful.
"Any city can have big buck chains, but what makes the city of Peoria unique is where you have local businesses that add that color and character and that sort of only in Peoria which is kind of our tagline feeling about what we do," Brinker said. .
Two of the five stores have not opened yet. Brinker says out of 47 shops there are only a couple of vacancies.
These customers eating inside Café Evergreen a new store, like more options.
"That means we have more places to shop and to eat," said restaurant patron Kay Myers.
With the more store options, comes more jobs..
The candle shop and Re, a shop with gifts made from recyclable materials will open within the next couple months.
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