Harold Alexander spent the night of June 14th looking out the window of his apartment at the fast moving rains and flooding in the drainage ditch behind his house. The next morning, he found debris and six inches of water downstairs in his resale shop, Artier.
“I ended up having two rollaway dumpsters full of items that had gotten wet,” Alexander explained.
In June, Waco experienced flash flooding that overflowed Waco and Flat creeks. More than a month later, Alexander said the damage caused by the flooding is bringing new opportunities for Artier.
The shop sits at the corner of 25th and Washington Ave, which is down hill from the Waco creek.
“I had had the garage door open and an enclosure was in front of that, and that's where the water came in,” Alexander explained, damaging the garage door.
The flooding also damaged the AC unit and caused Alexander to reconsider how his store is arranged.
“God blessed me to, you know, not have anything except openness,” he said.
Before the flood, the garage was used as a makeshift storage area - a temporary fix for extra items.
Now, he plans to use the garage as a community space.
“I got to open my garage now, and now I can have a creative space,” Alexander said. “It's gonna have a purpose.”
Because of the damage to the garage door, Alexander said he’ll have to replace it. He plans to bring in a new set of French doors.
“Which will give accessibility to my friends that have not been able to be in the shop,” Alexander said, explaining the current entrance is difficult to access for people in wheelchairs or with mobility challenges.
As a resale shop, Alexander prioritizes affordability and inclusivity, with most of the items coming to the shop through donations and trades.
“If someone has something that they've cherished but don't want to really sell, but want something new, I'll trade with them,” Alexander said.
That’s helped create a community around the shop. After the flood, nearly a dozen people showed up to help clean and rearrange the store.
“I come by every week or every two weeks and make sure he ain’t run off you know,” said Larry Garcia, a close friend of Alexander’s and frequenter of Artier.
They met when Alexander restored Garcia’s wedding bouquet as an anniversary gift to his wife.
“That bouquet that sealed the deal between me and him,” Garcia said.
When asked what keeps Garcia coming back to Artier, he had one, simple answer: “friendship.”
Alexander said most of his customers share that feeling. It's a connection he hopes to build on with the new garage space.
“I'm real proud to be able to do what I enjoy, you know,” Alexander said. “And I'm planning on being around at least 20 more years.”
