Vested in local business: business returns with success after destructive blaze.

• Author: Kelly, Lindsay
• Position: SMALL BUSINESS

Three and a half years after a fire destroyed her downtown North Bay business, Jennifer Bywater still gets emotional talking about it.

"I thought I was past it," said Jennifer, her voice breaking. "But I guess not."

The January 2012 blaze, ignited by an electrical malfunction, gutted the 100-year-old building that housed Vested Interest, consumed all the merchandise, and effectively wiped out the business that Bywater and her husband Brent had so painstakingly built up over the previous 20 years.

Despite the heartache, the entrepreneurial spirit that drives the couple kicked in, and they vowed to get right back into business, first setting up a temporary space before moving the whole enterprise to Callander, which, ironically, was Vested Interest's original home.

The shop, which specializes in Indonesian imported goods and gourmet and speciality foods, is now housed in a renovated warehouse, which the Bywaters moved into in June 2014.

"It's very bright and airy and cheery," Jennifer said. "People comment a lot that it's just a really feel-good place. They immediately feel relaxed and want to spend time there; there are a lot of great things to look at."

Shop space comprises the lower level and loft areas of the 9,000-square-foot space; the offices, warehouse and unloading area are located at the back of the building. The couple completed a second building, a 6,000-square-foot warehouse and manufacturing facility, across the street in early 2015. From there, they manufacture and store product from their other lines: Uprooted Designs manufactures furniture from tree roots, while Rock Solid Creations manufactures stone garden giftware.

As she has every year since Vested Interest's inception, Jennifer travels to Indonesia for the months of September and January to meet with the artisans who manufacture specific lines for her company. She is now wholesaling her products to 2,000 stores across Canada.

"There's a combination of some things (the artisans) are producing, but in order for us to be competitive in our wholesale market, most of the products are our own custom designs," Jennifer said. "So we create our own lines and then have them produced over there."

About a decade ago, the Bywaters found a new niche with gourmet and speciality foods. The food division now comprises about 80 per cent of their business. For five years running, Buckstone Inc., the wholesale arm of the company, has been invited as one of three Canadian companies...