A gutsy store-owner who lost her business in the Joell?s Alley inferno has bounced back and is trading again.

Defiant Tasa Belboda-Showers, who runs hair extension shop Uniquely You, saw stock worth $30,000-plus destroyed in July?s blaze which ripped through three Hamilton city buildings.

Most people would have thrown in the towel. But she refused to let the her career go up in flames.

Now she has made the first steps on the road to recovery ? and is working from a temporary store based at Elite International Salon on Cavendish Road,

?I never thought about packing it in,? said the mother-of-three, who has spent about $3,000 on relocation fees. ?I was determined to restart.

?I will start out small like I did when I first started and it will grow. I know that I?m really, really good at what I do.?

She added: ?I?m just happy to go back to what I love doing the most.?

Her hair extension business was only four years old when the fire broke out.

She also ran a hair salon that only opened four months before the blaze.

In the wake of the fire she told customers that she would be ?back faster than they can blink their eyes?.

However, Mrs. Belboda-Showers said that her and several other businesses wrecked by the fire had since run into difficulties trying to relocate.

?I?m going to be on Cavendish Road until the end of October, maybe a little bit longer,? she told . ?Right now I?m trying to find somewhere in town or on the outskirts. But it?s proving really difficult.?

She claimed that attempts to find new accommodation were being hampered by high rents and lack of space in heavily-developed Hamilton.

?All the businesses that were in the fire are having a hard time relocating. Landlords are becoming very competitive. They know there are people in dire straits. Generally speaking, landlords are not being very compassionate to people involved in the fire.?

The self-confessed ?weave diva? also recalled how she lost all her stock in the rented building that was home to her store. It was directly above a martial arts academy, where officials said the fire was first reported and where it appears to have started.

?Even though it says that the hair extensions are not flammable, in a really big fire that stuff is definitely flammable,? she stated.

To make matters worse, her contents insurance had been cancelled two years before the blaze. ?I stopped it,? she said. ?I couldn?t afford that and to put my kids through school.?

Meanwhile, she said that if all went well she plans to open a second site in Somerset, possibly some time in November.

As many as nine businesses were apparently gutted by the fire, which hit three blocks between Church Street and Victoria Street.

Fire officials launched an immediate investigation. But attempts to find out if a cause has been determined, or whether a price tag has been placed on the damage caused, were unsuccessful.

Arson was not ruled out in the immediate aftermath of last month?s fire that took 30 firefighters more than four hours to bring under control.

If you are one of the businesses trying to relocate after the Joell?s Alley fire, call on 278-0160.