Chicago Bagel Authority (CBA), located off the Belmont Red Line stop, was forced to close after a fire from the Ultimate Exposure Tanning Salon caused significant water damage to the ceiling Sept. 24.

The Chicago Fire Department arrived at approximately 8 p.m. because reports found that a tanning bed on the second floor of the building had caught fire. Now, the DePaul bagel hotspot combats customer loss with social media marketing, student discounts, and later hours at their Armitage location.

CBA founder and owner Greg Gibbs has recovered from the fire itself, but shows concern for his staff. “It’s hard to train employees to memorize a hundred sandwiches,” said Gibbs. “You invest a lot of time in people, least you can do is look out for them.” Gibbs has not fired any of his employees since the fire, and said he is determined to keep it that way.

Kylie Cabrera, an employee at the Armitage CBA and student at Truman College, was surprised by the fire. “Half our staff is working here now,” said Cabrera. “We are doing as much as we can.”

The elimination of one of the two shops reduces the amount of revenue coming into the business. In turn, employees are faced with a reduction in hours. Unless CBA increases revenue at the Armitage shop, the tough times will only get worse.

To combat the loss of the store, CBA has extended their hours on weekdays until 9:00 p.m. and will be open until 4:00 a.m. on the weekends. Likewise, CBA is implementing social media strategies via its Facebook page, and is selling an “ablazeballs” t-shirt (a spin-off of the slang “amazeballs”) for $15, in which all of the profit goes towards staff displaced by the fire.

The hip, comfortable atmosphere of CBA is welcoming to college students. Walls serve as a bulletin board for local flyers, photos, news articles, and even the popular “rage comic memes.” Many CBA employees are students in college, five of which attend DePaul. Gibbs said he aims to “keep those kids working.”