Two years ago, Molly McPheter opened her salon Roots and Branches. Ever since its opening, she’s been trying to keep the business afloat.
“As a small business owner you follow your dreams and you do something and try to make it different,” she said.
But over the last nine days, McPheter said her business has been struggling. On Aug. 3, a contracting crew busted a water line above her business and flooded her salon.
“The paint was bubbling and ripping off the walls. I mean it just demolished everything,” she said, showing 41 Action News a video of rain pouring down.
Now, paint peels off her walls, part of her ceiling had to be gutted, and a portion of her salon cannot be used.
“The water just continued to drop down on our ceilings so they had to wait for it to stop dripping and actually remove our ceiling and light fixtures,” McPheter said. “We’ve kind of just been waiting for [the landlord] and haven’t gotten a proper timeline to save face and do good business for our clientele.”
41 Action News contacted McPheter’s landlord, Sunflower Development Group. The company confirmed a contractor working on the floor above accidentally hit a water pipe. Over the phone, they said although the contractor is responsible for fixing the damage, they have "been working back and forth to reach a resolution."
Sunflower Development Group is in good standing with the state of Missouri and the other tenants in the building.
"This isn’t the first water problem we have had. It’s been two years of an uphill battle. I’m just kind of waiting for my break,” said McPheter.
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Ariel Rothfield can be reached at Ariel.Rothfield@KSHB.com.
