Momma's kitchen expands into attic

There is now one more place in Rawlins to buy inexpensive used clothes, toys and other household items.The owners of Momma's Kitchen at 416 W. Cedar St. expanded upward, opening Momma's Attic above their downtown restaurant on Jan. 14.Linda DeClue and her daughter Vanessa Winslow have been running Momma's Kitchen for about six months. They wanted to do something with the second floor of the building, which they are also paying for."We've been heating the upstairs, and we didn't want an empty room sitting there," DeClue said. "We thought it would help us, and help the community too."There are five rooms, each organized by type of items sold. There's an entire room for toys and other collectables. Items are inexpensive – customers can get a t-shirt for 75 cents and an adult coat for two dollars.
Walk-in donations are accepted whenever the store is open.They will also give clothes at no cost to the needy – if people don't take advantage of the service. "Families in need can stop by and talk to us," DeClue said. "Clothing, anything we have, we'll help them out."There will be a system with forms to fill out so Winslow and DeClue can keep track of whom they've given items to."We want to make sure we don't get a bunch of repeats," Winslow said.The family is not new to the business.Macon Promise Neighborhood: Aunt Maggie's Kitchen Table Gears Up.They kept a room where people could rummage through donated items while they ran a grocery store and restaurant in Hanna.They still have many items they want to sell from their businesses in Hanna. "They are taking up space, and we're going to cycle them through this store," DeClue said.The plan for now is to keep things simple – make five or six dollars a day while helping people out. They will not do any remodeling, opting to keep the space as is, DeClue said."We're going to keep the rugged look," she said.
Firefighters were able to get the dog out a back door and into a fenced yard, and rescue another family dog, Erickson said. The fire, which started at the kitchen stove, had spread into cabinets and into the walls, he said. The fire was put out about 10 minutes after crews arrived and caused $100,000 in damage to the home and contents, Erickson said. When the homeowner arrived about 40 minutes after the fire was out, he told officials he likely knew what had happened, Erickson said. "He had left a pizza box on the stove and his dog was probably jumping up on the stove to get things off," Erickson said.