Curate Re-opens 31 Days After Flood

After 31 days out of business, knocked down by , is back up and .

“It was a long time,” said co-owner Debra Camitta, who added that they're tired but happy to be open again. “It was tough but we made it."

And they did it themselves, with a lot of help of a small crew and some friends.

With so much damage throughout Millburn and northern New Jersey, Camitta said, they knew if they waited to hired a company, not only would it cost more it would take longer. And, having been she said, they didn’t want to be out of business that long.

“It would have taken forever,” she said. "So we did a lot of it ourselves."

The home furnishings and accessories boutique looks as if a storm never blew through, that there was never a few feet of water swirling inside it. But because they lost a couple of large displays, it’s a bit airier and more open.

“We didn’t want to make a lot of changes because we liked what we had and it was working for us,” Camitta said.

She and co-owner Mary Litterman were closed for vacation when Irene was bearing down on New Jersey. Camitta rushed back, examined the inventory by price point, then moved the more expensive items higher ground

Curate was flooded with several feet of standing water. Among the losses: Men’s leather wallets, cosmetic bags, pens, journals, display pieces, a jewelry cabinet, the furnace, all the appliances and possibly the air conditioner.

opened Wednesday and people have been dropping by to shop and congratulate them for coming back.

“It’s been great,” Camitta said.