The owner of a Norwich beauty salon has said she went into a meltdown after a fire destroyed her business but has worked tirelessly to reopen in under a month.
A fire tore through Forever Enhanced, a one-stop beauty salon offering everything from botox to massages, on Knowsley Road at around 7.30am on Tuesday February, 4.
It caused damage to products such as LVL lashes, botox injections, hair oil and filler injections and cost £6,000-£10,000 in replacements and repair work.
But due to a relentless effort by owner Charlene Gard, from Catton, who roped in her mum for help, the salon was scrubbed from top to bottom and partially reopened on Monday, March 2.
The rest of the salon reopened on Friday March, 6 when the electricity supply was fixed and Ms Gard said customers have told her it looks better than it did before.
The 36-year-old said: “When the fire I happened I went into meltdown and I struggled a bit. I was mentally, physically and everything you can be exhausted.
“But I was absolutely determined to reopen and if it wasn’t for the electricity I would have worked through the night and got it up and running the next day.”
“My mum and I just literally cleaned and painted and decorated non-stop to get it reopened as quickly as possible. We could open most of the salon on the Monday but had to wait a few days for my therapy room to reopen.”
“We’ve gone for a slightly different style this time and have gone for lots of gold and greys in the decoration throughout the salon and everyone is saying it is an improvement.”
The salon, which had seven members of self-employed staff, was due to welcome another member just days before the fire. Ms Gard said now she has been able to join the team.
She added: “She was able to join us on the Monday which was wonderful. I had to work really hard to ensure the salon reopened as I had no other choice.
“It is not just my livelihood it is other people’s livelihoods too and I could not have that hanging over my head.”
“We are still going through things and working out the total damage but I am just really happy and really pleased to be open again.”
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