FREEPORT – Doherty’s North Freeport Store opened back up for business last Thursday morning, 41?2 months after a fire that caused heavy smoke damage.

It was about time for owners Ryan and Michelle Doherty, and their regular customers, as well.

“We thought we’d be re-opened in June,” Ryan Doherty said last Wednesday, as he and his wife worked with vendors to get the store at 130 Wardtown Road ready. “Luckily, we’ve been insured.”

That insurance covered damages, but not lost income, Doherty said. Michelle Doherty estimated damages at $20,000.

Ryan Doherty arrived to open the store 5 a.m. on March 24, and found a smoky mess. A malfunctioning heater in the basement caused the fire, Michelle Doherty said. Firefighters contained it, but the smoke caused widespread damage.

The Dohertys hired a cleaning company, which assisted them with an inventory. They took photographs of every item in the store, got a description and a price.

Ryan Doherty said that he and his father, Frank, who is an electrician, managed to do much of the repair work themselves. Frank and Ginny Doherty built the store in 1975. The family sold it in 1984, and repurchased it in 1993.

“Anything that the insurance company didn’t rebuild, we rebuilt,” Ryan Doherty said. “We put down a new floor, painted, fixed the wiring and plumbing. Some of our regulars helped around, too.”

Professionals, meanwhile, removed all the damaged sheet rock from the back half of the building, and took out and replaced the insulation in the second floor.

“They actually had to clean the ice maker in the basement,” Doherty said. “Two freezers and two coolers had to be replaced.”

Doherty said that he and his wife had more time to spend with their two children while the store was closed, but everybody was anxious for Thursday morning. Pepsi and Coke distributors were filling the coolers with soda on Wednesday, while National Distributors was filling the beer spaces.

“I just got the pizza oven fired up,” he said. “Our regulars who come in every morning for coffee have been chafing at the bit. They’ve been peeking through the window and been hanging out to help with odd jobs.”

Bobby Curit, who lives half a mile from the store, is one of those regulars. He has been going to Durham Get & Go for his morning coffee and light groceries. Either way he chose to go – Durham, Lisbon or Freeport Village – was a lot farther away, he said.

“That’s between 5 and 6 miles,” Curit said. “It’s definitely a convenience having it open again.”

Curit is at Doherty’s early every morning.

“I get there when the coffee’s fresh,” he said.

Curit and the Dohertys go way back to when Frank Doherty built the store.

“I grew up with Ryan,” he said. “We hung out there when we were kids. It’s been a loss having them not open.”