Tommy And Lefebvre Main Ottawa Location Lost in Fire
Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 8:41 pm
This is an unfortunate bit of regional news. T&L had a store at Tremblant for a while, but even though they are no longer there, connections to the regional Ski and Board population run very deep. Ottawa Skiers and Boarders are probably the second largest Metro market at Tremblant, behind Montreal. Within the Eastern Ontario sector, Hull and surrounding Western Quebec, T&L is a very aggressive marketing and service entity with a very large and loyal following. T&L has a reputation for friendly, knowledgeable staff and we wish them well in their recovery from this incident.
As reported below, T&L have 5 other retail locations, so things will carry on as best they can and we are sure that T&L customers will be able to rely on them with a minimum of inconvenience, given the circumstances.
Reported today by cbc.ca:
"A major fire caused the roof of a landmark sporting goods store in downtown Ottawa to collapse overnight and forced the evacuation of several nearby apartments.
Fire broke out at the flagship Tommy & Lefebvre store on Bank Street a little before 1 a.m. Tuesday.
Police closed off Bank, which is a major north-south artery for bus and vehicle traffic, in both directions between Catherine and Somerset.
They managed to reopen the northbound lane before the heaviest portion of the morning commute.
A total of 92 firefighters fought the blaze at the sporting goods store throughout the night, bringing it under control shortly after 5 a.m.
Crews said they have contained the fire damage to the north end of the Tommy & Lefebvre store, which covers most of a block and is attached to a three-storey apartment building that had to be evacuated.
"The guys did a tremendous effort, and we saved a lot of the building and other buildings that were attached to, it so I'm pretty proud of the guys," said platoon fire chief Lawrence King.
The rest of the store, which employs about 50 people, suffered extensive smoke and water damage.
Natalie Tommy's father Art Tommy opened the store in 1958 with his brother Andy Tommy and Reg Lefebvre, all of whom were World Cup skiers and former members of Canada's national ski team.
Tommy & Lefebvre was considered a landmark store in Ottawa. (CBC)
Natalie Tommy said she and her husband will try to open a temporary location downtown in the wake of the fire.
"It's just devastating," she said Tuesday morning. "It's not just the fact the business is going to have interruptions, that's the least of it. It's more the memories that come with it and the stories.
"This was really a place where skiers came to gather as a community. That's pretty devastating."
Tommy & Lefebvre has five other retail locations."
As reported below, T&L have 5 other retail locations, so things will carry on as best they can and we are sure that T&L customers will be able to rely on them with a minimum of inconvenience, given the circumstances.
Reported today by cbc.ca:
"A major fire caused the roof of a landmark sporting goods store in downtown Ottawa to collapse overnight and forced the evacuation of several nearby apartments.
Fire broke out at the flagship Tommy & Lefebvre store on Bank Street a little before 1 a.m. Tuesday.
- Photo Courtesy of www.cbc.ca
- 3.31.09 Tommy & Lefebvre Fire.jpg (59.08 KiB) Viewed 4149 times
They managed to reopen the northbound lane before the heaviest portion of the morning commute.
A total of 92 firefighters fought the blaze at the sporting goods store throughout the night, bringing it under control shortly after 5 a.m.
Crews said they have contained the fire damage to the north end of the Tommy & Lefebvre store, which covers most of a block and is attached to a three-storey apartment building that had to be evacuated.
"The guys did a tremendous effort, and we saved a lot of the building and other buildings that were attached to, it so I'm pretty proud of the guys," said platoon fire chief Lawrence King.
The rest of the store, which employs about 50 people, suffered extensive smoke and water damage.
Natalie Tommy's father Art Tommy opened the store in 1958 with his brother Andy Tommy and Reg Lefebvre, all of whom were World Cup skiers and former members of Canada's national ski team.
Tommy & Lefebvre was considered a landmark store in Ottawa. (CBC)
Natalie Tommy said she and her husband will try to open a temporary location downtown in the wake of the fire.
"It's just devastating," she said Tuesday morning. "It's not just the fact the business is going to have interruptions, that's the least of it. It's more the memories that come with it and the stories.
"This was really a place where skiers came to gather as a community. That's pretty devastating."
Tommy & Lefebvre has five other retail locations."