Downtown blaze guts North Bay retailers

Two landmark businesses in North Bay's downtown were destroyed by fire.

A Jan. 3 blaze ripped through the 100-year-old Cochrane building on Main Street, completely destroying Lefebvre's Source for Sports, a generational family-owned sporting goods store, and Vested Interest Trading Company on MacIntyre Street. A slew of other nearby retailers were affected as well.

Owner Jerry Lefebvre told a North Bay newspaper he was still weighing his options to rebuild, but an adjoining business owner, Jennifer McNutt-Bywater of Vested Interest was scrambling to source inventory.

Vested Interest, a provincially award-winning import wholesaler and retailer, shares occupancy of the building, owned by Lefebvre.

In a statement, Bywater-McNutt said her inventory in the second floor warehouse was lost along with upstairs office space. The ground floor retail space sustained considered smoke and water damage.

A structural engineer was assessing the condition of the building, which may involve complete or partial demolition.

“People don't realize that we had a full-time staff of five people who worked on this second floor every day. Their lives have been profoundly affected by this fire,” said McNutt-Bywater in a letter posted through the North Bay Chamber of Commerce.

But she expressed determination to “hit the ground running” and get the company back on its feet in time to attend a major national gift show at month's end. That involves making an annual buying trip to Indonesia and Thailand to restock what was lost in the fire.

The company is looking for heated warehouse space for incoming shipments of food products.

“It's a daunting task but we'll do what it takes to make it happen,” she said.

North Bay's downtown business core has been plagued by a series of devastating fires over the years, which eventually lead to an award-winning revitalization effort in the early to mid-2000s.