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Tehachapi community helps owner rebuild boutique after structure fire

Friends help raise more than $5,000 for Joanne Nicks' boutique that was damaged during a fire
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TEHACHAPI, Calif. (KERO) — Joanne Nicks says she's grateful for her friends and community that rally in support to help raise more than $5,000 to help rebuild Cowboys and Angels Boutique in Tehachapi after a structure fire.

  • A fundraiser at Tehachapi Winery brings in more than $2,000 for Joanne Nicks in her effort to rebuild her boutique.
  • Nicks' friends also raised more than $4,000 online.
  • To find out how to donate, you can visit the boutique's GoFundMe page.

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:

This boutique in Tehachapi is known as Cowboys and Angels... and following a devastating fire, many believe angels are watching over the owner Joanne Nicks.

I'm Steve Virgen, your neighborhood reporter.

Joanne tells me the community has rallied around her and donated more than $5,000 to help rebuild her business.

“I was just numb. Absolutely numb… Devastating.”

That’s how Joanne Nicks describes her feeling when she saw her boutique on fire a couple of weeks ago in Tehachapi. But within hours, her friends, including Carla Cook, rallied in support.

“Carla immediately went home and set up a Go Fund Me page and within four days she managed to get together $4,400 on that Go Fund Me page.”

Joanne adds that Tehachapi Winery also held a fundraiser on Sunday to raise more than $2,000

“It’s a community. It takes a village. And when one of us is down we all come together to help out.”

Joanne tells me the cause of the fire is not known at this time. She opened the boutique a year and half ago after she had been selling at local events.

“It’s a Western boutique with an eclectic flair.”

After living in various areas of California, Joanne says she feels at home in Tehachapi, and the support she's received after the fire, helps re-enforce that.

“The people. Welcoming the very first day I opened. It’s just a phenomenal community. … I grew up in a small village in England and it reminds me of a small village.”

Joanne says she's planning to reopen her boutique in the next couple of months.

I'm Steve Virgen, your neighborhood reporter.


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