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Leadership W-B committee completes renovation of Dress for Success

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Barletta not ruling out 8th Congressional District run

<p>FORTY FORT &#8212; Ronne Kurlancheek remembers standing across Mundy Street in Wilkes-Barre Township on the night of June 13, 2018, and struggling to see what damage her furniture store received from the EF-2 tornado that ripped through the area just a couple hours before.</p><p>&#8220;It looked like the roof wasn&#8217;t where it was supposed to be,&#8221; Kurlancheek said Thursday before she cut the ribbon on her new showroom at 145 Welles St. in Forty Fort. &#8220;I initially though there was just a little roof damage.&#8221;</p><p>But when Kurlancheek and her husband, Joel Zitofsky, returned to the scene early the next morning, she could see the devastation.</p><p>&#8220;The steel beams were all twisted,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It looked like the tornado went in the front door and out the back. Everything was gone.&#8221;</p><p>So as Kurlancheek prepared to cut the ribbon on her new store, she smiled knowing that she will continue the family-owned business that began 114 years ago.</p><p>&#8220;I really like my new location,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Everybody is so friendly. My neighbors all came by last night to wish me we;;.&#8221;</p><p>And Kurlancheek paused as she looked around and said something else.</p><p>&#8220;This is a place where I can feel safe,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Kurlancheek said her husband gave her a card to mark the grand reopening of the business &#8212; Kurlancheek Home Furnishings.</p><p>&#8220;The card said, &#8216;from tornado to terrific,&#8217;&#8221; Kurlancheek said. &#8220;I&#8217;m delighted to be able to go to work every day and serve my customers.</p><p>The Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce hosted the ribbon cutting ceremony. Wico van Genderen, Chamber President/CEO, couldn&#8217;t resist mentioning the mini-tornado sitting on the customer service counter with a pair of red shoes and a toy &#8220;Toto&#8221; nearby.</p><p>&#8220;This is a &#8216;Somewhere Over the Rainbow&#8217; moment,&#8221; van Genderen said, as the song played over the store&#8217;s sound system. &#8220;Kurlancheek&#8217;s has turned a negative into a positive. They are showing that this region is worth investing in and re-investing in.&#8221;</p><p>Forty Fort Mayor Andy Tuzinski said family-owned businesses are the fabric of small communities.</p><p>&#8220;These are the businesses that sponsor Little League teams and soccer teams,&#8221; Tuzinski said. &#8220;It&#8217;s good for Forty Fort to have a quality family-owned business like Kurlancheek&#8217;s in the town and we hope they are here for many more years.&#8221;</p><p>Kurlancheek and her 12 employees are settling into the new space after having been displaced from the store on Mundy Street. The store will be open seven days a week &#8212; Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.</p><p>Two weeks after the tornado, Kurlancheek opened a temporary space in Edwardsville Gateway Shopping Center.</p><p>The new store has 6,000 square feet of showroom space and a large warehouse. Kurlancheek said the new store features an industrial, creative d&#233;cor, and will have one-of-a-kind pieces, special orders, unique chandeliers and artwork.</p><p>Kurlancheek Home Furnishings was founded in Duryea by Jacob Kurlancheek as a mining supply store. After a traveling sales representative asked if he would display furniture on consignment, Jacob was inspired to begin the transition to furniture sales.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Ronne Kurlancheek stands in her new Forty Fort showroom a year to the day her store in Wilkes-Barre Township was destroyed. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_TTL061419kurlancheek1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Ronne Kurlancheek stands in her new Forty Fort showroom a year to the day her store in Wilkes-Barre Township was destroyed. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_TTL061419kurlancheek2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Ronne Kurlancheek stands with Forty Fort Mayor Andy Tuzinski and members of the Wilkes-Barre Chamber for a ribbon cutting at the new Forty Fort showroom on Welles Street. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/web1_TTL061419kurlancheek2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Ronne Kurlancheek stands with Forty Fort Mayor Andy Tuzinski and members of the Wilkes-Barre Chamber for a ribbon cutting at the new Forty Fort showroom on Welles Street. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

A year after the tornado, Kurlancheek opens new store in Forty Fort