Three small businesses pick up the pieces after downtown Peterborough fire

The Simple soap shop has been a holiday shopping hot spot for many years in downtown Peterborough.

Owner Alex Fitzgerald says the weeks leading up to Christmas are always her busiest and most profitable — that’s why the fire last month that wiped out her shop and two others has been devastating.

“We do 60 per cent of our entire business in the month of December,” said Fitzgerald, who took a break from making bath balms in a kitchen space inside the food court at Peterborough Square.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We do 60 per cent of our entire business in the month of December," said Fitzgerald, who took a break from making bath balms in a kitchen space inside the food court at Peterborough Square.

The fire at 372 George Street last month started on the roof, which could have started from the refrigeration unit on top of the historic building. Luckily, nobody was injured but three small businesses including Simple, Nata’s Café and the Ash Nayler Photography studio had to shut down.

Fitzgerald had been operating her soap shop at the location for nearly 17 years and wasn’t sure with the damage if she would be working at all this Christmas but says the business community downtown has rallied together to help her get back on her feet and set up a kiosk location at Peterborough Square.

Now it’s all hands on deck, as Fitzgerald says she’s working around the clock, making as many bath balms as she can but customers are buying them up almost as fast as she can make them.

“Bath balms are the biggest holiday item and so we were able to at least sell that one item for now,” she said.

Fitzgerald has yet to receive a damage estimate on her shop, nor is it clear if the building can even be salvaged and at this point, she’s just thankful to be up and operating again.

“Three weeks after the fire and considering it’s everyone else’s busy time, it’s pretty miraculous that we’re even able to do just bath balms at this time of year,” she said. “Everyone has been great. It’s been a humbling experience.”

The same goes for professional photographer Ash Nayler whose studio was above Simple soap. She says damages and losses from the fire are close to $15,000 but at the same time, the community has rallied and helped make up for some of the losses.

So much so, she admits she’s busier now than she was before the fire.

Nayler said local fashion photographer Bryan Reid reached out immediately to offer and share his downtown studio space and when word spread about the fire, new clients began reaching out.

“I didn’t have to cancel any of my shoots which was really awesome and I’ve had more people reach [out] than ever, and I’ve booked extra sessions,” said Nayler, who has picked up 40 new clients in the past three weeks.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I didn't have to cancel any of my shoots which was really awesome and I've had more people reach [out] than ever, and I've booked extra sessions," said Nayler, who has picked up 40 new clients in the past three weeks.

Still, it’s like starting over for Nayler — she hasn’t been able to step foot in her studio to retrieve materials and equipment, and admits she doesn’t know if she’ll ever get back to set up in that space again.

“The damage is pretty bad,” she said. “Ideally, it would be cool to move back into my own space but sharing a studio with other photographer friends for right now is working.”

Nata’s Cafe next door had to close as well. Co-owner Steve Francis estimates there’s about $50,000 in damage to his coffee shop but reconstruction is ongoing and he hopes to reopen before Christmas.

Fitzgerald says she’s going to take a holiday after Christmas, and hopes to relocate to a new downtown storefront this spring.

The fire department says it’s still too early to determine if the building is salvageable or if it will need to be torn down.