West Duluth is now the new location of Lake Superior Medical Equipment
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On September 14th, 2022, smoke could be seen all across Duluth’s Hillside when the Lake Superior Medical Equipment store went up in flames. It was a vision that can’t be forgotten, especially for Tom Jamison, the owner of Lake Superior Medical Equipment.
“I remember getting a call from my manager telling me the building was on fire, racing down to take a look at it, and the entire building was engulfed. So, when something like that happens, the first thing you want to know is you want to make sure that your folks are okay. There were some apartments above our business. We’re going to make sure everyone got out.”
Related Story: Duluth Hillside fire contained, investigation underway
The locally owned and operated business was founded in 2002, and Jamison purchased the company with locations in Cloquet and Duluth in March 2015.
The business and building next to Uncle Loui’s on 4th Street was a total loss, and several people lost everything they owned. “After the fire, once we knew no one was hurt, actually, my feeling, my overall feeling, I told this to a lot of people, I was grateful, because no one was hurt. At that point, you realize that all you lost was stuff, and stuff can be replaced,” Jamison said.
A sign of a Lake Superior Medical Equipment banner outside of the Bullyan Center
The business was left completely destroyed, forcing a temporary relocation to Cloquet, while planning the steps to rebuild and even thinking if they still had a future.
“We certainly had concerns, but we have such a great team here. We’ve just got such an amazing team! I don’t recommend businesses do this to test out whether they’ve got a great team, but when you go through something like a fire, you really do find out what kind of team you have; and we have a great team. I knew we were ultimately going to be okay.”
The medical supply store now calls West Duluth home, as it relocated to the lower level of the Bullyan Center located at 4730 Mike Colalillo Drive, signing a long-term lease with the non-profit, UDAC.
“This new space gives us a chance to really grow and kind of rejuvenate our business. I think every business can kind of get stale, although ours hasn’t because we were growing before the fire. We’re going to continue to grow now,” Jamison expressed. The supply store officially opened in the new location on Monday, May 1st, maintaining their hours of Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.