Room Service Vintage forced to close for days due to flooding

AUSTIN, Texas — A popular, long-time Austin vintage store is dealing with damage after strong storms moved through Wednesday night.

Rob Kuzmicki, an employee at Room Service Vintage on North Loop Boulevard, said staff members were having a meeting when the power went out Wednesday. They still had their meeting – but then water started coming in through the floor.

Kuzmicki said before they knew it, there were a couple inches of water all through the store.

“There was water everywhere. We had to sweep all the water out, we had to get a crew over here to take care of some of that,” Kuzmicki said. “And then we had to unload every single detail that was inside the store that could be damaged by the flooding.”

Kuzmicki said Room Service Vintage has been around for 44 years and has seen its share of disasters, including a fire and a car crashing into the building. He said this flooding is another thing they’ll get through, though he noted that as a small business, “every day we’re not open, it’s not easy.”

He said some items were lost to damage, the storm took out parts of the store’s sign and all the carpet had to be pulled out. As a result, the store will remain closed for a few days and, in the meantime, staff has packed three box trucks full of vintage merchandise to keep it safe during repairs.

“We’ve been here since 1981; so, you know, we’ll be here ’til 2081,” Kuzmicki said. “We just care about the people in this neighborhood, we care about the store, we care about each other. So, it’s nice to make it through this.”

According to Room Service Vintage’s Instagram, they hope to be back open on Tuesday, June 3.