Kirkwood retailer Cha Cha reopens after fire

The upscale college clothing store Cha Cha has recently reopened it's doors after the local business caught fire early last year. The reopening of the boutique has been in the works for a year and a half. \nIn February, Cha Cha suffered a severe financial blow when a faulty florescent light caused Greetings, a card store next door, to catch fire. The fire caused severe water and fire damage to Cha Cha. Store owners Dianna and Jeff Green said they remain optimistic as they go through the woes of keeping alive their once flourishing clothing store. \n"We have had a significant financial loss," Jeff Green said. "We missed the 2002 school year and this past spring. Missing those seasons has had a negative impact."\n"We paid the overhead for 11 months without having a store," he added. \nThe situation forced the owner, Dianna, to set up office space across the street from the original store.\n"This is the flagship store," she said. "Not being open for fall and spring was significant," Jeff said.\nGreetings was able to recover and reopen after only six months, but the fire left Cha Cha and the Greens in a financial bind. In spite of this, they decided not to advertise for the reopening of the once popular store because they didn't know if the store would be up and running by this fall. Since the fire, Dianna Green has been in litigation with her insurance company, which delayed the reopening. Green also cites their location on Kirkwood Avenue as a reason not to advertise.\n"We don't need to advertise," she said. "We are on the main drag. The location is great." \nCha Cha, 427 E. Kirkwood Ave., is one of three stores on Kirkwood, including Pitaya and Urban Outfitters, that caters to trends popular among college students.\n"Urban Outfitters and Pitaya are friendly competition because they draw the same customers," Dianna Green said.\nThe Greens said the neighboring businesses were anxious about the reopening. \n"I'm happy for them," said Greetings owner Robert Jacobs. "We have a lot of the same customers, and they are an important ingredient to the retailers on Kirkwood."\nDianna and Jeff Green can already see their business beginning to regain its former clientele.\n"We have a high stack of applications, and a lot of people are coming back," she said.\nPrior to the reopening, the Greens only had to hire one new employee. The rest of the employees worked at Cha Cha before the store was forced to close.\nThey both said they expect business to pick up right where it left off.\n"It started off slow, but we absolutely expect business to pick up since school started," Jeff said.\nThe decrease in business during the off times like the holiday breaks, prompted the Greens to open two Indy stores.\nOne store is located in Broad Ripple, Ind., and the other in Carmel, Ind.\nContact staff writer Patrice Worthy at pworthy@indiana.edu.