Hardened Lebanese merchants battered by Beirut blast

People walk past Sleep Comfort furniture factory that was damaged during Beirut port blast, in Beirut's Karantina district, Lebanon August 13, 2020. REUTERS/Aziz Taher

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Sleep Comfort survived Lebanon's 15-year civil war. But nothing could have prepared the high-end family furniture business for the Beirut port blast that destroyed swathes of the capital.

Employees barely escaped glass shards which flew across the showroom, located in one of the hardest-hit districts. In an instant, one-third of the furniture stock was lost and the factory gutted, incurring some $600,000 in losses.