Kanata small business owners grapple with future after devastating blaze

Months after a commercial plaza in Kanata went up in flames, business owners Shabnam and Kaveh Shakouri are still trying to deal with the aftermath.

“Mentally it is very hard. Like I kept having panic attacks; anxiety attacks…I still can’t believe it,” Shabnam told CityNews in an interview.

She has an engineering background, but during her first maternity leave Shabnam started baking, something she did more as a child. Her hobby was reignited when she started making customized cakes for friends and family. At the same time, she was painting and teaching Persian dance classes to children.

“All these things together it was; they were all my passion. So we decided, the two of us, to turn this passion into a family business and open JoyfulBites,” she said.

The business is an area where they could host kids birthday parties, and activities like baking or painting and the pair had plans to open a coffee shop during the week for the community — or where tired parents could have a moment of peace.

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But just 11 days before the couple’s grand opening the business — along with the thousands of dollars in renovations and items — was reduced to ashes.

The early morning blaze happened around 3:31 a.m. on Sept. 17 in the 400 block of Hazeldean Road near Castlefrank Road. Firefighters were met with high heat and the roof was at risk of collapsing. The total devastation fire is under investigation by the Ottawa police arson unit, which officers said caused “millions of dollars” in damage to multiple businesses in the plaza.

Police confirmed to CityNews the case is still active.

That morning Kaveh was off to the gym early and as he was driving back heard on the radio there was a fire on Hazeldean.

“He checked the place that they announced on the radio, and he said, ‘No, it’s not us. It is the plaza one intersection after our plaza,'” Shabnam recalled.

Then the family got a call around 7:15 a.m. from their daughter’s daycare, located across the street, who asked about the storefront.

“That’s when I realized it was our plaza.”

When the couple arrived they could still smell smoke in the air, black markings crept across the building and all the windows had shattered. Inside, the business’ commercial kitchen, furniture and classroom supplies were all lost. It was that morning the pair were about to bring the last boxes to the business.

“I was crying or just staring off into the distance,” Shabnam said seeing the devastation in person.

Although Shabnam and Kaveh don’t know what the future holds for JoyfulBites, they are determined to bring it back eventually. Friends and family flocked to the couple’s side hours after the fire and Shabnam’s best friend, Fakhteh Ahmed started a GoFundMe to help support them.

“Shabnam and Kaveh sacrificed everything to make this dream a reality. They poured their hearts, sleepless nights, and life savings into building JoyfulBites while raising their two young daughters,” the fundraiser written by Ahmed reads. “Now, in one cruel moment, everything they worked for is gone.”

In the meantime, Shabnam and Kaveh are trying to figure out their next steps, which could look like a smaller business elsewhere in the community.

“We were told it may take a year and a half to two years to have that plaza operational again,” she said. “I don’t want to just put my dream aside for two years.”

The family is waiting on the insurance process, which could take months. Kaveh said the fundraiser and seeing the community support has been “unexpected.”

“I want to thank all the community members… Coming together to support each other and that’s what I love about these communities and Canada,” he said.