Mayor Vincent Gray and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton helped open the temporary Frager’s location Sunday afternoon at Eastern Market, just a few days after the historic hardware store was destroyed by a four-alarm fire.

Hundreds gathered to welcome the pop-up, while some chanted “We love Frager’s.” Gray replied, “What a fitting way to start.”

Gray said the Capitol Hill community was “too resilient to let a four-alarm fire bring us down.” He praised the D.C. firefighters who fought the blaze, which received major applause from those assembled.

“Frager’s will rise again,” Gray said, adding earlier that he hopes to see “93 more years of Frager’s.”

Norton, a Capitol Hill resident, also praised the community and firefighters.

“We need Frager’s,” Norton said. “If Frager’s needs us, I’m here to tell them for sure we need Frager’s.”

The 93-year-old hardware store, located at 1115 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, caught on fire Wednesday evening. It took 200 firefighters to put out the blaze, which could be seen from many miles away. The cause is still under investigation.

A Frager’s garden store will be temporally located on the concrete pad that formerly housed Eastern Market after it was damaged by a fire in 2007. The pop-up will be open seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Frager’s owner John Weintraub said he and his staff were “overwhelmed by support.” This includes two support funds, one created by the Capitol Hill Community Foundation. He once again vowed to rebuild the store, which the crowd cheered.

While Weintraub said the pop-up location won’t have everything the last store had, it will sell all the plants that didn’t burn in the fire, or the “survivors,” as he called them.

A very nice gesture led to one very awkward moment. After Weintraub presented Gray with a “survivor,” he also said he had one for “Mayor” Tommy Wells, who was not present. Councilmember Wells (D-Ward 6) is of course running for mayor, while it’s unclear if Gray will seek another term.

The crowd laughed heartily, while Weintraub quickly corrected himself and moved on.

Gray, with Norton and Weintraub at his side, concluded the opening by cutting a green ribbon. Someone yelled, “By the way, Frager’s supplied the ribbon.”

People immediately rushed to the plants, pushing to be one of the first to purchase a “survivor.”

Just a few blocks away, the original Frager’s was still standing, charred by the fire and boarded up.