A more than 150-year-old business in downtown Lansing is dealing with the aftermath of this week's storms after its roof collapsed.
The owners of Kositchek's Menswear discovered Wednesday morning that the store’s roof had caved in on its showroom destroying much of the store’s inventory.
“All the heavy rain," said co-owner David Kositchek. "It just couldn’t handle it.”
The remnants of Hurricane Beryl brought nearly six inches of rain to areas of mid-Michigan starting Tuesday evening, causing flooding in some locations.
While the exact cause for the roof’s damage is still under investigation, the store’s owners believe it was due to a drain on the roof that didn’t empty quickly enough during yesterday’s storms.
“There’s a lot of damage and we don’t know when we will be able to reopen,” said Kositchek.
Lansing building officials have red-tagged the building and deemed it unsafe.
The family-run business, now in its fourth generation of ownership, first opened in Eaton Rapids in 1865. The store has been operating at its current location at 113 N. Washington Square since the end of the 19th Century, with expansions and renovations occurring in the decades since.
Store owners say they have regularly kept up with the building's repairs.
“We weren’t aware that there was even an issue on the roof,” said Kositchek.
Owners say they will be closed to the public for the foreseeable future.
