It’s been almost a year since Pearl Street Beverage, one of Burlington’s staple downtown liquor stores, was ravaged by fire.
An electrical blaze that broke out at about 2 a.m. on July 1 quickly engulfed most of the store, fed by the alcohol within it. It took almost 40 firefighters about two hours to extinguish the blaze.
“The fire was devastating,” said Pearl Street Beverage owner John Dubie, who has overseen the store for 38 years. “In fact, if you had asked me right after, you know, a week after the fire, I really didn’t think we would have got rebuilt.”
Luckily for fans of the liquor and pipe shop, Dubie changed his mind. After months of gutting and rebuilding, Dubie has planned a tentative June 1 reopening date under the name Pearl Street Pipe and Beverage, with a grand reopening planned for July 1 — the anniversary of the fire.
The Burlington city government has assessed the property, including both Pearl Street Beverage and the adjoining Lakeside Pharmacy, at a total value of $1,400,200.
The “Pipe” addition to the Pearl Street Beverage name highlights the expanded pipe section in the rebranded store. Dubie said the shop was known for its affordable bongs and smoking accessories. Now, he hopes to add more elevated glass to the inventory.
Dubie hopes to elevate the liquor side of the business, too. While the loss of the store felt like a tragedy, starting over allowed Dubie to design a new shop with a massive walk-in cooler, wider aisles and a comfortable space for employees to relax and be trained in the laws that govern the sale of alcohol.
He said he wants the shop’s overall vibe to be “classy,” with a touch of Bigfoot. The shop’s resident life-sized Sasquatch, named Harriet, survived the inferno. She gave the firefighters a shock, Dubie said, as they attempted to navigate the smoke-filled store. Harriett has been living in Dubie’s front yard in Grand Isle, but will return to the shop in time for its grand premiere.
Dubie is keeping the shop’s aesthetic transformation a secret for now. No photos allowed of the in-process renovations. “We really want people to be very curious,” he said. “So when we open, they’ll come and see us.”
The new walk-in beer cave, Dubie guesses, will be one of the largest in the state with a customized epoxy floor. The shop will also have new technology, improved accessibility and a new wine club and tasting area.
“There isn’t one inch of this store that I haven’t thought about in the past 10 months,” Dubie said.
Dubie declined to share the overall cost of rebuilding the shop. The building was a total loss, he said, and insurance covered most of the damage. But new investments have put a dent in the finances.
“All cash reserves that we had before the fire are depleted and we are now working off of our line of credit to refill the store,” Dubie said. The liquor store missed out on a record year for the industry, as many turned to their favorite spirits to ride out the pandemic.
Pearl Street Pipe and Beverage will rely on its relationship with the Burlington community to make a strong comeback, Dubie said. The support from the community has been “overwhelming” since the fire, and since quietly teased announcements trickled out about the reopening.
“I’m really encouraged,” Dubie said. “… The few social media posts that we’ve put out have had such enormous, positive responses.”
The pharmacy next door
Lakeside Pharmacy, the business adjoining the Pearl Street Pipe and Beverage building, avoided the most serious effects of the fire, but had to close because of extensive smoke and water damage.
Kyle Maxwell, who with his wife has owned the shop since 2018, said renovations have begun and he hopes the store can start operating again by the end of July.
He hopes his customers will return.
“We have a lot of pharmacies in town and obviously, since I haven’t been able to help, my cast and crew, all my patients, I know that they’ve had to go to other places,” Maxwell said.
“It’s a little nerve-racking trying to sort of win back everybody,” he said. “But we have a strong local community. People love to support their local businesses, their local pharmacy, and I’m excited to get back in there and be a functioning member of the community.”
