Burst water heater closes fundraising shop
The Discovery Shop’s ground floor in downtown Los Gatos is temporarily out of commission because the store’s ceiling collapsed when a water heater broke inside a second-floor office.
The collapse occurred sometime Saturday night or Sunday morning when the store was closed.
The Discovery Shop at 39 E. Main St. is one of two thrift stores in town.
Remnants of the store’s acoustic ceiling litter the now-squishy carpeting, which was being dried out Monday afternoon by giant wet-dry vacuums.
A rack of dark-colored men’s suit jackets looked like they had a really bad case of dandruff.
“It looks like a tornado ripped through the shop,” manager Rita Melamed said. “A cleanup company is coming to look for asbestos.”
That’s just a precaution because the building was rebuilt after the 1989
“It looks like a tornado ripped through the shop. A cleanup company is coming to look for asbestos.” — Rita Melamed, shop manager
earthquake, owner Peter Hoffman said.
Meantime, Discovery Shop volunteers are trying to salvage what they can and expect to spend the next few days moving to 47 E. Main St., two doors down from the flooded store.
“We need a new cash register and computers,” Melamed said. “It would be wonderful if there’s a dry cleaner willing to volunteer to clean some of the clothes — we need all the help we can get.”
The nonprofit Discovery Shop raises research money for the American Cancer Society and Melamed hopes that will encourage people to help her team rebuild. “Cancer touches everyone,” she added.
Anyone willing to help may call 408-354-5917.