Two local businesses that burned down in same week make plans for the new year

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Two Milwaukee businesses are trying to rebuild after a rough end to 2017.

It's been two months since fires took both a south side furniture store and a north side food store in a matter of days.

The owner of 'Garden of Eden Kingdom Living' a health food store on the north side says she wasn't sure what would happen after a fire destroyed her business back in late October.

Right after the fire, Karen Long said she wanted to rebuild but wasn't sure where to start. Two months later, what was left of her storefront has been removed.

Police are still trying to figure out what happened.

But in that time, Long says other businesses in the community have stepped up to help her.

They've offered her space to work and supplies to help her get back up and running.

Thanks to that help, she says she has plans to reopen in 2018.

"I think the important thing is that things happen for a reason. If this situation can help somebody else, causing nothing is promised, but you've got your life," said Karen Long, Garden of Edgen Kingdom Living owner said.

A few days after Long's business burned down, a family-run furniture store on the south side was also lost in a fire. The owner of Nabil's Furnishings on 27th Street is still trying to figure out what exactly the New Year holds for them.

"We've been building customers for a long time and we just lost it," the owner said.

Police say the fire at Nabil's is arson but they're still searching for suspects.