A year after being destroyed by fire, Gina’s Drive Thru reopened Friday. The new building is described by owner Richard Bissell as his dream drive thru. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

EAST LIVERPOOL — One year and three days after fire gutted the business, Gina’s Drive Thru officially reopened at 8 a.m. on Friday morning.

Owner Richard Bissell and his fiancee Kim Ross noted that the opening was shared on social media to make their customers aware and that familiar customers were at the business located at 1147 Pennsylvania Ave., ready to purchase as soon as they opened. The traffic through the drive-thru continued at a steady pace.

Ross said regular customers were excited to have them back in business and would give her heart gestures with their hands or say thank you to her as they came through to make their purchases. “You’re finally open” has been the phrase of the meeting repeated by nearly everyone who came through. Ross also said that many of the returning customers said they were glad to have them back.

“It’s good to be back. It really is good to be back,” Bissell said.

The reopening was a family affair as Bissell had his children there with him, starting to learn the business. All five of his children have worked at the business at some time.

Bissell, who has owned the business for 40 years, said he is glad to be back in business and it was a long road getting there.

The drive-thru was destroyed by fire on Feb. 11, 2024.

Bissell said then he had immediate plans to rebuild and since he had to rebuild, he would be building his dream drive thru. When asked about rebuilding, Bissell had said when he does rebuild it will be nice and have brand new everything including a bigger walk-in cooler. He also said his plans were to build a nice building that would light up the whole corner and have bigger doors with everything being high efficiency and up-to-date.

Bissell achieved what he was wanting with the new structure and then some. The walk-up window is bigger than before and now has an awning so walk-up customers and employees stay dry during wet weather.

Demolition on the building ruins began in late March and the foundation for the new structure was laid in early August with construction beginning in mid-September. Once construction was complete the structure had to undergo numerous state required inspections.

The business with the reopening has expanded their hours. They will now be open from Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m., on Sundays from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m.

Gina’s has 12 employees.

They carry an assortment of products ranging from alcoholic and non-alcohol beverages, tobacco products, ice, snack food and more. Ross noted they will now offer a customer loyalty program for discounts on some tobacco items.

Nick Yanni of Nick Yanni Construction and a friend of Bissell was the contractor for the rebuild. Both Bissell and Ross agreed that Yanni, who worked with them up to opening, including putting shelves up for them Thursday night, did a wonderful job on the new building.

kgarabrandt@mojonews.com