Dozens of St. Catharines entrepreneurs rebuild after devastating blaze

A dozen business owners in St. Catharines are recovering after a fire tore through their workplace earlier this month.

The impact is significant but they’re hoping to welcome back customers sometime in the new year.

The morning of Dec. 6, Kalleigh Sharp, owner of Beauty Bar One in St. Catharines, received a text from a friend which read: “I’m so sorry about the fire.”

But after making some calls, she realized it was not a mix up.

“Everything was up in flames,” Sharp said. “I was shocked when I walked in there.”

The photos show charred aftermath of the early-morning fire that caused an estimated $1 million in damages and loss.

Investigators were able to pinpoint the spark’s origin to a battery charging bank.

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“In this case, we didn’t see anything where the owners had not followed the guidelines of the manufacturer,” said St. Catharines Fire Chief, Dave Upper. “There was no misuse.”

The fire broke out on the main level of the building where Beauty Bar One was located.

“I had planned on being more booked and busy before Christmas,” said Alexis Wylie, owner of Lash Niagara. “December was really going to be a good ‘push’ month to build business.”

At the time of the fire, 13 of the 18 units were leased out by beauticians who say it couldn’t have come at a worse time when beauty services are in high demand.

“Marketing and awareness at this time is really a good push for our businesses,” said Alexis Stephenson, owner of Lexi’s Hair Boutique. “Especially just starting here, we were also going to do a Christmas pop-up but when everything had happened and we weren’t able to do that anymore.”

With 2026 just around the corner, Sharp says she’s ready to begin the recovery process.

“You can always rebuild and then from here, we just work with the insurance companies and try to be as transparent as possible,” said Sharp. “The damage in there is so bad that even for me, my content insurance will be maxed out. I’ve already done a renovation here so I already know what I’m in for, for doing another renovation.”

Sharp has set up a GoFundMe page to help the entrepreneurs as their restoration continues. Sharp expects that will take about five to six months.

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