Projo Biz Blog

Andrew Nosal, owner of The Map Center at 671 North Main St. in Providence, said he plans to reopen as soon as possible after a fire Thursday in the multi-use building that houses his business.

Nosal said it's too early to pinpoint his reopening, but said he hopes to be back in business within a few weeks. The timetable partially depends on when fire officials allow people back into the building.

Nosal said his part of the building did not suffer any structural damage in the fire, but there is a pervasive smell of smoke.

"When I first walked in, I thought everything was going to be fine, but stuff smells bad. Who wants to buy a smelly map?" Nosal said in a phone interview Friday. Nosal said he does have an insurance policy on the Map Center.

Nosal, who said he has "thousands" of maps in the store, said he has not had a chance to go through all his inventory. "We're still in the process of sorting out what we can save, what's a total loss," he said. He said he doesn't know whether the smell of smoke will remain on the maps or not.

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