By Greg Paeth
NKyTribune Senior Reporter
One of the few Covington retailers that remained downtown after many businesses moved away or closed down in the 1970s was shut down Friday as the Covington Fire Department investigated the cause of a blaze that was reported at about 9 p.m. Thursday.
Staffers for Sims Furniture at 727 Madison could do nothing more than grab a seat on a sofa because the electricity had been shut off in the building and the fire department was still working next door in the offices of Jackson Hewitt Tax Services at the corner of Eighth and Madison.
The fire started in the Jackson Hewitt office, which is in the same building with Sims, according to Matt Day, who manages the store, which has been owned since 2011 by Eagle Financial Services.
Day said the sprinkler system kicked on in the Jackson Hewitt building and that water from the sprinklers seeped into the basement showroom of Sims. He said he did not think there was any fire damage inside of Sims, which occupies three floors of the building.
Because the power was out in the building, he and two staffers, assistant manager E. J. Murray and Tyler Osborne, who handles sales and accounts, could not assess the damage to furniture that was displayed in the basement, Day said.
“It’s not looking good. It’s probably a loss, but we won’t know anything until the power comes back on,” he said.
The first floor smelled of smoke and Day said he did not what would be done with the furniture on the first and second floors of the building. He said his superiors with the company as well as the insurance company will make final decisions about the furniture that’s in the store.
Day said he did not know how the fire started.
Covington Fire Chief Dan Mathew said members of his department were working with Covington Police detectives in an effort to determine how the fire started. He said the two departments routinely work together on investigations, especially in cases where there is a possibility that a crime may have occurred.
He said there was more smoke than fire and that the sprinkler system saved the building. Although no dollar figure was available, Mathew said it appeared that the property loss was “substantial.”
Although the sign out front says Sims has been “serving the tri-state since 1927,” Day said he thought the current location on Madison had been open for about 40 years. The company’s website shows locations in Florence and Cincinnati.
Sims always emphasizes its lenient credit policies in its advertising. While a reporter was at the store Friday, a woman stopped in to make a payment. Because the power was shut down, she walked away with a handwritten receipt.
Kenton County Property Valuation Administrator records list the owners of the building that includes Sims and Jackson Hewitt as Eighth and Madison LLC, which has an office address in Cincinnati. The property is valued at $420,000, PVA records show.