On Monday, May 11 just before the popular supermercado’s scheduled opening at 8:30 am, an ordinary business day was turned upside down by a single individual who committed the senseless act of starting a fire outside the doors of E&L Supermercado. As a result, more than one hundred employees are out of work and literally thousands of shoppers will have to find alternative sources of fresh meat, deli and other grocery products while extensive repairs are made to the interior and exterior of the market.
Fortunately, the Detroit Fire Department responded quickly to the emergency call and extinguished the fire outside the building. According to owners, Mike and Dave Fienman, the fire was confined to the exterior of the building but the interior suffered extensive smoke and water damage. Mike Fienman noted that “virtually everything inside the store is a total loss”. He estimates that repairs will require the business to be shut down for at least three to four weeks. At the same time, some building repairs to the brick, tile and signage may take much longer to complete.
Mike Fienman made assurances that all the E&L employees will not go without pay while the business is offline. “Insurance will help with that, and whatever expenses are not covered, we will cover,” he said.
Thanks to security video recordings of the property, a suspect was identified and captured by Detroit Police the same morning. His identity had not been released as of press time for EL CENTRAL.
Social media accounts of the fire were greeted with heartache and offers of support from the Southwest Detroit community. In response, Mike Fienman gratefully acknowledged the support the family has received through calls, texts and more.
Editor’s Note: By sheer coincidence, E&L Supermercado was honored only days prior for its dedication to the community at the LA SED Annual Recognition Luncheon. See pages 8 and 9 for details.
