House of Lingerie, which neighboured the eatery, had all its $90,000 worth of stock ruined by fire, smoke or water due to the July 16 blaze in the Stanley Street shopping hub.

Owner Anne Lafferty said it was not tenable to return to the store and she was looking for a fresh start at a shop in the same area.

“The smoke and ash and mess that was in the place means it’s not a nice, soft, intimate feeling for a lingerie store,” she said.

“I think I can get up and running at a lot better place, I think that place will always have the stench there.”

Mrs Lafferty who is trained in fitting and specialises in helping women who have undergone a prosthesis, hopes she may able to trade again next month.

“In my heart I’d love to be open for spring, the 1^st of September, but it depends on how everything moves along,” she said.

“My customer base is great, they’re all in shock but all of them….want me to re-open and say they won’t go elsewhere.”

Meanwhile, the operator of the Stripped Bare beauty salon in the same precinct, Jessica Snaith, hopes to return to her parlour next week if power is restored.

She said she had opted to not to tap into a generator set-up in the walkway outside her shop because “it was just too noisy” for clients. 

Another business affected by power loss due to the fire, Mad 4 Hair opened on Monday for the first time since the blaze and nearly doubled its usual trade for the day.