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Grafton business owner remains optimistic despite his flooded businesses

Dan Bechtold estimates he lost $100,000 from the flooding. His hardwood shop has only been open for eight days since late March.

ST. LOUIS — A Grafton business owner isn’t letting this weekend’s rain dampen his spirits or wash away his profits.

Dan Bechtold’s hardwood shop, Knotty By Nature, is flooded, but he’s salvaging anything he can. And his flooded business is forcing him to make a profit a different way.

“A lot of the hardwoods will probably be used as benches and stuff like that,” Bechtold said. His pockets may be a little lighter when things dry out. “We won't get our top dollar."

But it will do. He plans to use the scraps for firewood. Cleaning up is a lot of work, but Bechtold isn’t one to waste good lumber.

“If we wanted to waste it we would open that door and push it out into the water and let the river have it,” he said.

After all, his saturated shop is filled with help this weekend.

“It's great when we get the help like this, this is fantastic,” he said.

Bechtold owns the two businesses on either side of the shop as well. All-in-all, he estimates he lost $100,000. The only thing he’s counting is the days until his shop dries out.

He said he’s only been open for eight days since the end of March. Initially, he had planned to re-open on the 4th of July but he expects the water to still be lingering in a few weeks.

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