Village Potters, Jos. A. Bank reopen after Helene flood damage in Asheville

Village Potters Clay Center and Jos. A. Bank Clothiers have reopened in Asheville, two visible signs that recovery is still moving through the River Arts District and Biltmore Village after Hurricane Helene’s flood damage. The reopenings matter beyond the storefronts themselves: they put workers back behind the counter, bring customers back into once-silent commercial corridors and show that some of the city’s hardest-hit business districts are turning a corner.

For Village Potters, the return carried extra weight. The clay center reopened at Westgate Shopping Center, less than a half-mile from its former Riverview Station home, after its River Arts District site took on 26 feet of water during the storm. The center had spent 15 years in the district before moving, and founder Sarah Wells Rolland called the reopening “the culmination of a year and a half of really hard work” after the flood “washed away the Village Potters Clay Center down in the River Arts District.” The new space spans 18,000 square feet, about 4,000 square feet larger than the old one, and was chosen in part because it is not in the flood plain.

The move gives the business a larger footprint and a safer base, which matters in a district where every reopened storefront helps restore confidence for nearby merchants and visitors. The new gallery is set to showcase survivor pots saved from the flood alongside new work by resident artists, with demonstrations, tours and kiln openings built into the relaunch. The Village Potters also held a grand reopening on April 11 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., underscoring that this is not just a restart, but a reset.

Jos. A. Bank’s reopening in Biltmore Village adds another marker to the recovery map. Retail associate Zachary Morrow said he did not think much of the approaching hurricane at first, but by the next day the water was nearly to the roof of the store. Historic Biltmore Village was submerged in as much as 20 feet of water during Helene, a reminder of how deeply the storm hit Asheville’s lower-lying commercial centers.

Together, the reopenings point to slow but real momentum. Asheville’s River Arts District and Biltmore Village were among the hardest-hit commercial areas in the storm, and each returning business helps rebuild the daily routines that neighborhoods depend on: shoppers, art buyers, employees and the steady flow of traffic that keeps a district alive.