The owners of a historic store in Fort Worth's stockyards are vowing to reopen this week after a three-alarm electrical fire early Sunday.
Crews are cleaning up the mess as Leddy's hopes to reopen the downstairs showroom by midweek. The lower-level sales floor only had smoke and water damage.
Flames ripped through the upper floors of the landmark M.L. Leddy's, the same place where Elvis and Lyndon B. Johnson bought their cowboy boots.
One observer said it looked as if there was "not a tremendous amount of inventory loss."
The fire department estimated the store has lost about $500,000 in inventory and sustained another $200,000 worth of structural damage.
Wilson Franklin said the store his grandfather opened will be completely cleaned up.
We didn't let it get away this time, and we'll be back open for everyone who enjoys doing business with us, Franklin said.
When firefighters arrived, flames were shooting out of the upstairs windows.
They worked for an hour to contain the blaze and save the historic building, which has been in the Leddy family for more than 75 years.
A firefighter in charge said they "really understand the historic nature of the buildings out there and work so hard, knowing that this is a great tradition for Fort Worth.
Business owners in the north side's historic stockyards district called the old stores there a window into the past.
We were very upset because it's part of the history of Fort Worth, said resident Roy Garden.
The fire appeared to have started in an electrical junction box on the building's second floor, fire officials said Monday.
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