SAXONBURG — A May 2004 fire destroyed the borough's only grocery store.

But through an accelerated construction process, Friedman's Supermarkets, a Butler-based business, was able to open a larger store on the site of the former store by that December.

Art Keeney, Friedman's vice president and general manager, said the building is slightly larger than the old one at 28,000 square feet.

The electrical fire had spread through the store's attic that had been renovated and forgotten through the years. The store was declared a complete loss when the roof caved in several hours after the first flames were detected.

Carol Bitter, Friedman's president, took a bad situation and made it into a good one for Saxonburg customers by expanding services, such as ready-made meals, and adding more than 2,500 new products throughout the store.

Starting from scratch allowed Friedman's executives to redesign the store to be more open, with wider aisles.

Blueprints for the Saxonburg store from a renovation in 1999 made the process of rebuilding move quickly, as well as the company's insistence that local subcontractors do most of the work.

On the day of the fire, Bitter said the company would rebuild the store in Saxonburg because of the community's loyalty.

From fire to grand reopening, the Saxonburg Friedman's was only closed for 210 days.