6 months after Palisades Fire, Elyse Walker is rebuilding across the street in Pacific Palisades

PACIFIC PALISADES, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Something that makes communities so special and unique are the businesses.

In Pacific Palisades, one owner decided there was nowhere else she'd rather have her store - so she's rebuilding not far from where she lost everything in January.

When the Palisades Fire exploded in the hills of Pacific Palisades six months ago, the last thing fashion retailer Elyse Walker was thinking about was the jewelry and merchandise in her store that she's operated for 25 years.

"We left town and evacuated early just to get our team home safely, get them off the roads," she told Eyewitness News. "Thinking if the fire department needs to come in... there's 25 less cars in the Palisades that they have to worry about. We weren't thinking there was a fire coming into the town. People thought they were going to come back in an hour or so."

Walker's store was completely destroyed by the fire.

The Pacific Palisades wasn't just the home of her first and flagship clothing store - which became part of a fashion empire online and with locations throughout Southern California, Napa and on the east coast - but where Walker raised her kids, made life-long friends and built a business that was a staple of the community.

Which is why she's not going anywhere.

"When we went around looking at different options for where we could move, very suddenly everything just came right back to home. It's very hard to replicate the love and appreciation and town and community feeling. It's a one-of-a-kind special place. People will come back. I think they're excited about it... we're going to make an impact here. We're going to do this together," she said.

Elyse Walker is one of the 254 businesses destroyed by the Palisades Fire. Some 101 businesses were damaged and, according to the Palisades-Malibu Chamber of Commerce, 19 have reopened.

Next year, Elyse Walker will join that list, moving across Sunset Boulevard to Rick Caruso's Palisades Village Shopping Center.

"Great retailers don't make moves, even if they're emotionally connected, unless they know there's a thriving future and that's what Elyse knows here," Caruso said.

When Elyse Walker reopens her west coast flagship store at Palisades Village next year, it will be about the same size as the store that burned in the fire.

She hopes that everyone who worked there will work at the new store including those who lost their homes.

"They know this is going to be hard. This isn't that they signed up for either. They're looking for a nice job where they can grow. This is going to be rolling up their sleeves. But tears of joy... and pride," Walker added.