Four Months After The Fire, Tuesday Morning Closeouts Reopens

Nearly four months after an employee allegedly set fire to the store, the Tuesday Morning Closeouts store on West Main Road is scheduled to reopen, appropriately enough, on the Tuesday morning of May 3.

The announcement was updated in the company website and small signs and celebratory balloons displayed outside the store on Monday also heralded the store's return. The store will reopen at 8 a.m, according to a sign on the door.

The store at 872 West Main Road has been closed since sustaining heavy fire, smoke and water damage on Jan. 5.

A store employee was arrested and charged with first degree arson in connection the morning after the fire, which took nearly two hours for firefighters to knock down, drew fire departments from throughout Aquidneck Island for assistance and closed a total of three stores in the plaza.

Stuart Moody, a resident of North Kingstown, remains on home confinement per court order pending the outcome of the trial, according to a Middletown Police Department detective who worked the case. A date has not yet been set.

Employees inside the store on Monday referred all questions to the store's corporate headquarters.

A spokesperson for Tuesday Morning Closeouts declined comment on the arson case or about Moody.

"As policy we generally do not comment on matters such as this. The important point is that the store will reopen and we look forward to seeing our loyal Tuesday Morning customers once again," said a spokesperson from Laurey Peat & Associates, the company's public relations firm.

The store is expected to staff between 10 to 20 employees, she said.

The May 3 reopening was timed to coincide on Tuesday with May's "Monthly Event," which happens at all Tuesday Morning stores on the first day when merchandise from that month’s circular is available, the spokesperson said. As it had done prior to the fire, the store will once again offer home furnishings, patio and garden accessories, luggage, toys, luggage, bedding, pet items and more household items.

Two other neighboring businesses in the shopping plaza also closed in January due to mainly water and smoke damage from the fire and had to undergo extensive cleaning and remediation.

reopened on February 12 with a grand reopening celebration.

However, Cappuccino's Cafe and Bakery, which shared a wall with Tuesday Morning Closesouts, has not reopened. The cafe's sign remains on the building but the windows remain blocked off with curtains and a "closed" sign still hangs on the door.

Attempts to reach Cappuccino's owner have been unsuccessful.

More about the Tuesday Morning Closeouts fire and pending arson case can be read by