‘We’re coming back’: Marysville store owner who lost boutique to fire vows to rebuild
A Marysville shop owner is hoping to bounce back from the blaze that devastated her storefront in the city’s historic downtown early Monday and she’s looking to the community for help.
Honey Barn Decor Boutique, Melissa Swink’s corner shop at Fourth and D streets, went up in flames, photos from her Facebook page telling the story of a dream destroyed. Firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading to other buildings and were able to save the structure that once housed the city’s water works, but the shop was a total loss.
No one was hurt. Marysville Fire Department investigators are working to determine what caused the blaze just a block from the site of the Hotel Marysville, which was destroyed by fire this summer.
“My dream caught fire this morning at 2:45 a.m.,” Swink wrote in a post Monday. Swink has insurance but has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds in the interim as she considers what comes next.
“For the past two and half years I worked every day to bring home decor, candles, woman’s clothing and charm to the community,” Swink wrote. “Now that I (have) been faced with tragedy of losing my dream my little store, I want rebuild, restore and bring more love back into the town.”
The fire at Honey Barn this week seems another discouraging setback for a downtown that has seen more than its share over the years.
Fire in June, then wrecking crews in December, demolished the looming specter of the downtown district’s longtime struggles, the Hotel Marysville. But the destruction and the work that followed dealt yet another blow to downtown businesses. The work to safeguard the structure from collapse meant diverting traffic away from the city’s center — and the downtown businesses that rely on that traffic for their livelihoods.
At 331 D St., the Honey Barn sat in the beleaguered hotel’s shadow. But Swink and the Honey Barn were typical of the tenacity of small business owners in Marysville’s historic downtown, determined to rewrite the narrative of the long-struggling district.
“There’s a string of new, younger business owners who care about what’s here,” Angie Aberasturi, manager of the Brick Coffee House and Cafe downtown, told The Bee in the weeks after the June 15 fire that gutted the Hotel Marysville.
“It’s already feeling like there’s a new energy — business owners who are really passionate about doing something,” she continued. “With that energy that’s coming down here, I’m hopeful that something gets put in that respects the history of this town. The bones are there. That’s why it is exciting. We just have to get past this time.”
The Honey Barn was one of nearly two dozen Marysville businesses that were part of the annual Grinch Hunt, a holiday promotion to draw shoppers to downtown. Swink’s shop was the subject of a “Good Day Sacramento” feature on the event only days before the fire.
Just last week after closing the doors for the night, Swink reflected on her boutique, then a small, sunny space warm with farmhouse charm and dotted with pillows, furniture and other home items. She expressed her plans for the new year and hopes for her downtown in a Facebook post.
“I felt a deep sense of fulfillment,” she wrote Dec. 17. “With the arrival of the new year, I am excited to unveil new decor, furniture, and aspirations for Honey Barn. I am looking forward to 2025 and am committed to devoting my efforts to enhancing the charm of Downtown Marysville.”
Now, Swink and family are left with the task of rebuilding.
“Yesterday was very devastating for me, my family, the people who support me,” Swink said Tuesday in a video posted to her store’s Facebook page, expressing her thanks to the city, customers, community and those who donated to the store’s rebuilding effort. “But what I can tell you is that I’m a positive person. I’m a fighter. I don’t give up.
“Honey Barn is not done. We’re coming back.”
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