After a fire in May destroyed Roy’s Furniture, a 28-year-old furniture business in Lincoln Park, Roy’s decided to waste no time and began plans to rebuild.

Roy’s Furniture marketing director Johanna Parra has high hopes for the new store. “It’s going to be bigger and better.”

Parra said that employees, including herself, were shocked after the fire, and were worried about job safety. Parra said it was a feeling of “not knowing what was going on” or what to expect.

Thankfully, Roy’s community of customers of Roy’s responded quickly. “It was really overwhelming how a lot of people were coming out … (asking) what they could do to help,” said Parra. “A lot of the neighbors that live near the store, (wanted to) make sure we’re going to open again – to rebuild. So that’s part of the reason why the owner decided to go ahead with the rebuild.”

Parra credits the customers who showed support for the recovery of Roy’s as the reason it will be returning. She said people were “genuinely sad that (the) store was lost to the fire.”

Roy’s is now operating out of their temporary warehouse location at 2315 West 27th St., about a 15 to 20 minute drive from the original store location on Sheffield Avenue.

“It’s definitely not as busy as the store,” said Parra, which she attributes to the fact that the warehouse is in an industrial zone and is hard to reach via public transport.

“But people are driving out there,” said Parra, despite the inconvenience. Many repeat customers have been coming, and Parra has kept the marketing and advertising work at the same energy it was pre-fire.

The process of rebuilding has taken them all summer, but they are planning on breaking ground this month.

“Were hoping to be open before the end of the year, but you know how it goes with the city and the permits and all that good stuff,” said Parra.

Parra, who has been working at Roy’s Furniture for seven years, said she sees a bright return for the business. The blueprints for the new building showcase a modernized Roy’s.

“I think the future for Roy’s is going to be a fresh start,” she said. “It’s definitely going to be bigger and better. We’re going to be bigger and better than we were before.”