A building originally built in 1904 was one of the oldest buildings in Rayne before it burned in a fire. The Simoneaux family took ownership around 1987, and many neighbors knew the building as the Farmers True Value Hardware Store. Current owner Daniel Simoneaux told KATC his father passed the business down to him back in 2003.
"It was kind of an honor. I mean, I had been working the business probably about 12 years or so, and started off at the bottom as a regular employee," Simoneaux said. "Then just worked my way up.”
On July 29th, the building went up in flames. Daniel says he had just returned from helping a customer at their home when he heard a loud noise.
“It was right around 3 o’clock, and I was walking back from my office, which was back where those trees are," Simoneaux explained. "When I walked into the main part of the store, I heard a loud thud noise upstairs.”
Simoneaux explained that he thought the loud noise was one of his employees upstairs. When he realized all of his workers were up front, they went to check on the issue.
“Whenever I got up to the second floor, I can see flames was coming out of what we call an apartment, which was just a break room for our employees,” Simoneaux said.
Simoneaux and his workers tried to use a fire extinguisher to control the fire, but ended up having to evacuate and call for help. He says as of now, he's uncertain if he will rebuild.
“There are too many variables right now that are still in play to make that decision, but I mean, from the heart, yeah, we want to,” Simoneaux said.
Simoneaux expressed that it's humbling to know how much the store had an impact on the community and he’s thankful for all of the support.
