'The inventory is just the hardest to lose': Chicago's Bric A Brac cleans up after burst pipe floods the store

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Pipes are still bursting at homes, restaurants, and small businesses across the Chicago area, causing widespread damage and major headaches.

For one beloved record shop, a bursting pipe over the holiday not only left a path of destruction but wiped out their one-of-a-kind inventory.

 CBS 2's Andrew Ramos stopped by the Avondale business now trying to recover.

It was a Facebook message from a complete stranger that derailed Nick Mayor's Christmas morning.

"'Hey, I am trying to talk to the owners,' it said 'We just saw the fire department breaking in because there's water spewing out of the door," said Bric-a-Brac owner Nick Mayor. 

It was the door to his Avondale record shop Bric-A-Brac that first responders were breaking down. Inside, a pipe had burst amid freezing temperatures, sending water gushing down the ceiling and walls, flooding the shop, ravaging the inventory.

Mayor was in Alabama visiting family and flew home immediately. Surveillance cameras inside the shop captured the moment the ceiling came crashing down, devastating the business which specializes in rare vinyl records, cassettes, VHS tapes and all things 80 and 90's nostalgia.

Including a limited edition deluxe soundtrack of "The Thing" from John Carpenter that's no longer in print. The soundtrack vinyl section took the hardest hit. Roughly 4,000 rare records lost. It's the section of the store that was literally under the geyser of water for about 12 hours.

The neighboring business, a horror themed coffee shop called the Brewed, also owned by Mayor and his wife, saw some minor water damage.

Their team have spent the past couple of days cleaning up, trying to salvage what they can. As repairs get underway, he said he'll lean on their insurance, but it's not stopping loyal customers from stepping up, offering the business, a helping hand. 

The responses on social media have been comforting, he said.

"The inventory is just the hardest to lose. Replacing that, I mean, if anybody has records, they want to sell, tapes, vintage toys, anything like that just so we could fill again ourselves again, is the most direct way to help us," Mayor said. 

Mayor and his team have been working around the clock in hopes to opening the coffee shop back up. The timeline for the record store however, not as quick. 

Due to severe damage couple of weeks it may be a couple of weeks until they start welcoming customers back.

In:
• Small Business
• Chicago
• Avondale