Samaan and Aida Dabit don’t like to drive at night because they don’t feel comfortable being on the road after dark.

But when they got the call Saturday night that On Time Fashions, the store operated by their sons, Zuher and Morris, had caught fire, the Dabits cut their Florida vacation short, stopped at the Waffle House to pick up two large coffees to go and bravely hit the highway back to Selma.

They arrived safe and sound and, thanks to the coffee, wide awake.

On Time Fashions is located in the old Barton building on Alabama Avenue. Zuher first heard about the fire from his brother.

He jumped in his car and rushed to the scene. As he neared the store, Zuher’s heart sank. Thick clouds of smoke billowed across downtown Selma. The streets were jammed with police cars and fire trucks with lights flashing.

It was the Barton Building. It was his store on fire.

Although the fire was serious, firefighters were able to contain most of the damage to the second floor of the building, where the blaze is believed to have started. The store itself, which is located on the first floor, suffered only mild smoke and water damage.

It could have been much worse.

The Dabits began the tedious process of cleaning up this week.

Since first coming to this country from Jerusalem some 40 years ago, the Dabits have built something of a clothing empire across the South. They currently own and operate clothing stores in Jackson and Meridian, Miss., Selma, Montgomery, Anniston, Nashville, Charleston, S.C., and Savannah and Columbus, Ga.

The Dabits have been in Selma for more than 30 years, ever since Eddie Dabit, Aida’s brother, opened The Soul Shop on Washington Street in 1970. Aida, in fact, has seven brothers and one sister, and all of them are involved in helping to run the family’s clothing business in one form or another.

Soon, the Dabit brothers were selling more shirts and slacks than they were hammers and nails. A short 40 years later, the Dabits have become an American success story. As with most overnight success stories, it’s been a long uphill climb to get there.

Times are a little better now, but the Dabits still aren’t afraid of hard work.

Zuher says he and his brother are currently looking to find temporary business quarters while On Time Fashions undergoes a cleanup. &uot;We don’t want to lose our customers,&uot; he explains.

In addition to thanking fire and police personnel for helping to minimize his losses, Zuher also would like to thank all the friends, customers, neighbors and complete strangers who have come up to him and his family in the days since the fire to express their concern.

The Dabits have been so overwhelmed by all the offers of help, in fact, that they want to do something to show their gratitude. So, Zuher promises, look for &uot;a big, big sale&uot; coming very soon.

How much more American can you get than that?