It’s been six long months since a fire in a neighboring building caused Ben’s Five and Dime in downtown Perry to close its doors indefinitely.

Indefinitely has now become this Monday, as the pillar of the Perry community is set to reopen. Co-owner Jay Pattee says after the fire in March, there was extensive smoke damage to the whole store, which forced them to replace their entire stock and thoroughly clean the building. Once everything was habitable, they began the process of putting it all back together. Finally, it was time to restock, which has been in progress for the last several weeks. The whole process was aided by countless volunteers and other businesses, and Pattee offers his heartfelt thanks for all the help. Now he says the store is ready enough to welcome shoppers back.

“The bottom line is, we just got tired of being closed! So even though I don’t think we’re quite there, (on) October 1st we’re going to open the doors, and you might see a couple places that are lacking merchandise. Not to worry, it’s on the way. Most of the store, I think, resembles pretty much what it did before the fire, and we can let our customers decide that. But what we’re hearing from people (is), ‘When are you going to reopen?’ So here’s the good news: October 1st, which is this coming Monday, we’re open!”

Pattee adds, with getting everything ready for the opening, he and his wife Jan haven’t had a chance to consider a grand reopening celebration yet. He says Monday will essentially be a soft opening, and they’ll hold a bigger event later on. The Perry Chamber of Commerce is also helping welcome Ben’s back, as the store will be the host for the October Chamber Coffee event on the 12th. To hear more about the reopening of Ben’s Five and Dime, listen to today’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program on air and at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.