'Even better this time'

Keith Gedamke/The Item Nevin Boykin,owner, reflects on the work it took to open the Dairy Cream and what it will take to re-open the business after a suspicious fire started Friday night.

Dairy Cream reopens to success, support

Interview with owner, Nevin Boykin (audio) Rebuilding the Dairy Cream (video)

By GINA VASSELLI
Item Staff Writer
gvasselli@theitem.com

Nevin Boykin stood in what is now the shell of the Dairy Cream, the faint smell of smoke mixing with the smell of fresh paint.

"It was beautiful," he said, gesturing to the place in the front of the shop where a brand new counter stood only days before.

But even though Boykin's shop was set on fire after only one day of business, he hasn't lost hope.

"We're coming back even better this time," he said.

Boykin, others associated with the business and friends have been working since Saturday morning to clean up the place, salvage what they could, and get it back up and running.

The inside of the front of the shop, which sustained the most visible damage, has already been repainted, and Boykin and others were working Wednesday to put a new ceiling in place.

But the cosmetic damage is not the greatest of Boykin's concerns.

He still owes money on a lot of the equipment, though luckily the fire did not hit the most expensive items in the back of the shop, like the ventilation hood. He said many of the businesses he owes have been understanding and told him to simply get the business back up and worry about them later.

That attitude has also hit many of those who had worked directly with Boykin to get the shop up, like Ulysses Bell, owner of Amazing Exteriors Inc.

Bell was hired as the landscaper for the shop but said he has been coming most days since the fire simply to see what he can do.

"When spiteful stuff like that happens, you gotta help out," Bell said.

Boykin said many of the people who helped him get the shop together worked on the premise that they would be paid once the Dairy Cream got up and running.

"It's a big blow to a lot of people," he said.

Another blow is that the man suspected in the arson is Lewis Jenkins Jr., who was Boykin's friend and even helped him get the shop open.

Boykin said there were times when he couldn't be there that Jenkins waited for a contractor or inspector to come.

Keith Gedamke/The Item The Dairy Cream sign can be seen through a soot stained broken window in the Sumter buisness. The owners are working to re-open the buisness after a Friday fire.

Jenkins even visited Boykin's mother in the hospital recently.

"That's the most hurting part of all of it, is like, what's the motive?" Boykin said. "I don't want to believe it was him."

But Boykin said he doesn't have time to worry about why it happened.

"My main concern is rebuilding," he said. "You never understand why people do what they do."

Boykin, who had worked at Jones Pontiac on Broad Street for about four years, said he has all of his savings as well as money from his family invested in the shop, an estimated $25,000.

He said the idea to start the shop actually started with a hot dog cart, but when he learned that he could only operate the cart on certain days, he began looking for a building for his business venture.

Driving down Broad Street, Boykin said he noticed the empty Dairy Cream location and made contact with the owner, Bobby Beatson.

"I think I ran into my calling," he said.

The culmination of four months of hard work was realized Friday, when the shop opened for the first time since February, serving customers from 2 p.m. to midnight.

Boykin said business was "fantastic," that night.

But then the shop was set on fire around 4:30 the next morning.

It was not insured.

Two days before, Boykin said, he had applied for insurance with neighboring business SIG but was awaiting an appraisal when the fire happened.

"The process was under way but unfortunately not quick enough," he said.

Boykin said he hasn't always been so sure he wanted to keep going with the shop.

"At one point in time I sat down with my loved ones and said is it really worth it to sink anymore?" he said.

But he said business on the one day Dairy Cream was open was so good and the community had such a strong response that he knew he had to piece it together again.

"It was a good feeling to know that the community is behind you, like you know, 'we're glad it's reopening, we glad it's clean and we're glad it's pretty'," he said.

And many members of the community have let Boykin know that they want to see him open the local landmark again. In about half an hour at least three different people stopped by on Wednesday to tell Boykin how sorry they were or to offer help.

Boykin said the community and Antoinette Hill, his fiancée and manager of the shop, are the reason he can keep going, keep pushing.

"If I had to do it on my own," he said, trailing off and shaking his head. "It would be hard to do it if I didn't have this support."

Boykin said his plan is to clean up the shop and start working to see what he has to do for inspections and getting the electricity turned back on. Making sure to have insurance coverage is also on that list.

He said 30 days is probably the soonest the shop could be back in business.

"It's hard to have to start all over, but we have to do it," he said.

Contact Staff Writer Gina Vasselli at gvasselli@theitem.com or (803) 774-1214.