Still Waiting

Thursday, 9 October 2014 06:28

Let's Eat Cake owner Rene Hoelscher continues to face delays in reopening her store after a fire in March.

WOODSTOCK -- She's hoping that when Santa Claus travels down Dundas Street next month, the 'open' sign is lit on her storefront.

Rene Hoelscher, owner/operator of Let's Eat Cake continues to face delays in reopening her store following a fire in March of this year.

Hoelscher runs her business out of 478 Dundas Street in downtown Woodstock, where Theatre Woodstock was also utilizing the back of the building for storage of the props and items for their sets. A fire broke out in the Theatre's storage area on March 20th, causing damage to not only their location but the neighbouring building where Once Again Upscale Resale is located. They are set to reopen in the near future but for Hoelscher, it's a waiting game.

Six months after the fact, Hoelscher is still assessing what she's lost. "I'm not sure about some of my equipment yet, it's still been sitting in there and I have to check and make sure it's working properly but I have lost all of my stock. Anything that was ingredients, I've lost. Tables, workbenches, counters, display unit, a lot of decorative and a lot of the tools that I use for my cakes."

During this time, Hoelscher has been renting the kitchen at the Woodstock Curling Club to continue her business on a smaller scale but with the curling season beginning, she has had to vacate the facility and put her business on hold.

On a positive note, Hoelscher has taken this opportunity to renovate by adding restrooms and a dining area to her business. "I'm actually going to be expanding the business a little bit so that we have some catering, we will have where people can come sit down and have a cup of coffee and a piece of dessert, maybe a light breakfast, light lunches - hopefully that will get us back to where we need to be."

In the meantime, Hoelscher has received permission to set up a one-day, small shop out front of her Dundas Street location this Saturday (October 11th) to sell Thanksgiving treats but once this weekend pasts, she will be waiting patiently to reopen her store.

"We can't wait to get back and up and running, and the community has been so supportive and I really appreciate everybody being on our side and rooting for us. I want people to know that when we come back we're going to be even bigger and better than we were before."