Jeanna Duerscherl | The Roanoke Times

Caitlyn Burgess, a PetSmart employee, hangs prices on products as the store prepares to reopen.

After recovering from a November fire, PetSmart will reopen Friday for the last rush of the holiday shopping season.

Justin Vass, an employee of eight months at PetSmart, puts parakeets in a cage. While it was closed for repairs after a fire, PetSmart sent its animals to other company locations around the region.

Bentley Duncan received a cellphone call on Nov. 14, while on his lunch break, that no store manager wants to pick up.

PetSmart was on fire.

"It was a shock," he recalled. "My first thought was 'Did everyone get out safely?' "

The fire and its cleanup have consumed a significant portion of Duncan's time. He has worked some six- and seven-day weeks to get the store ready to reopen at 8 a.m. Friday, just in time for the last-minute holiday shopping rush.

Restocking began last week, the shelves are filling up, and the store is coming back to life.

"When you see it completely empty, you get a little down about it," said Duncan, who has managed the pet chain's Roanoke location for two years. "Now I'm just itching to open up."

The Christmas tune "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" played overhead Tuesday as workers bustled about the store on Valley View Boulevard, unloading boxes and testing the alarm system.

No employees or animals were injured during the blaze that caused an estimated $2 million in damage. Corey Brian Hite of Wythe County has been charged with arson.

Since the fire, construction crews have repaired walls and repainted the entire store. The sprinkler system had left 4 inches of water throughout the store, Duncan said.

"Between smoke and water, the whole store was damaged," he said. "It didn't look good."

During the cleanup, some Roanoke employees took shifts at Lynchburg and Christiansburg PetSmarts. Four part-time employees left the Roanoke store to find other jobs, but 40 to 45 workers have stayed on, continuing to receive paychecks for preparing the store for reopening or traveling to other PetSmarts, Duncan said.

Even some of PetSmart's salon employees rescheduled dog grooming appointments at the Christiansburg PetSmart for customers who would make the drive.

Italo Bianchi, 21, unloaded trucks three days a week at the Christiansburg PetSmart. Though he lives in Radford, Bianchi has worked at the Roanoke store for six months, arriving at 3 a.m. to unload trucks and stock the retailer.

Bianchi said the fire has "brought all of us closer together."

Still, "It was sad to throw away all of the food," he said.

Everything in the Roanoke PetSmart was discarded, and new merchandise -- including dog beds, toys and bags of food -- has arrived. PetSmart stores generally stock about 10,000 items, said Jessica White, a spokeswoman for the Phoenix-based retailer.

Animal rescue groups were forced to find foster homes for some animals housed at PetSmart and to look elsewhere for food donations that the store typically provides.

The Roanoke store will reopen with new reptiles, birds and other small animals. After the fire, the retailer's 90 small animals, reptiles and birds were divided among PetSmart stores in Danville, Lynchburg and Christiansburg. Many of these animals have been sold, and relocating the rest of them back to Roanoke would disrupt their habitat, Duncan said.

Meanwhile, the store's closing could not have come at a worse time. PetSmart, like many stores, counts on the holiday season to produce a significant percentage of its business.

Duncan referred questions to PetSmart's corporate office about how much the Roanoke store has lost in holiday sales since its closing.

White, the company spokeswoman, would not comment.

The Roanoke PetSmart is gearing up for what may be a deluge of last-minute holiday shoppers. The store often sees most shoppers in the days before Dec. 25, when people seek quick gifts, Duncan said.

Staff writer Nona Nelson contributed to this report.