Norwich — When a fire destroyed the office complex at 598 West Main St. on Dec. 31, Tricia Allard's first reaction was "complete disbelief." In the plaza, she operated Ideal Weight Loss while her husband, Michael Allard, ran Access to Health Chiropractic Center and owned the building.

To lose the homes of both businesses on the same day was overwhelming.

But their friend David Richardson, owner of Lafayette Dental Group in Norwich, called them the day of the fire to say he had office space at 57 Lafayette St., next to his clinic.

"The fire happened on a Saturday, and by Thursday the chiropractic office and the weight loss center were up and running," Tricia Allard said. "It was a miracle for sure."

Greene Dental Group loaned them furniture, patients helped clean the new spot and the Allards' friends from CrossFit contributed their time.

But it's a temporary spot, and their eventual goal is to be back on the other side of town. Each of the seven businesses whose former home was ruined in the fire has found either a temporary or permanent home, and Michael Allard has put the West Main Street plaza up for sale.

The most recent move was for Salon Studios, which opened at 102A Route 32 in North Franklin on Aug. 14.

The day after the fire, Salon Studios owner Dawn Mastronunzio had a meeting with her friend Lisa Courter, owner of Hair Unique on Salem Turnpike. The salon took in nine Salon Studios employees, who started working that Monday.

"We were very fortunate to have a place to go and we were very fortunate to stay together," Mastronunzio said. Along with Hair Unique, two employees went to Tzers Salon and two to Roots Salon, both in Norwich.

Eight months later, eight of those hairdressers are back at the new Salon Studios location, while two started their own salon, two stayed at Hair Unique and one stayed at Roots, Mastronunzio said.

She loves the new space, which has baby-blue walls and is adorned with leafy plants, and said it feels like home.

All she wants is "business as usual, calm. We don't want drama, we don't want any excitement, we just want to do our job," Mastronunzio said, breathing a sigh of relief.

But if business is good, she has room for expansion.

Jody Jordan, on the other hand, said his new space is larger than necessary. But he hopes it's the permanent home for his State Farm insurance agency, and he is looking into purchasing the building.

Like the Allards, he had a quick turnaround. Michael Allard got Jordan in touch with a landlord while Jordan's wife called real estate agents, and the couple separately ended up viewing the same place.

Jody Jordan signed the lease on that place, 279 W. Main St., a few days after the fire.

For the first two or three weeks until the agency got computers up and running, employees worked off iPads and a laptop, using Wi-Fi from cell phones. It took about three months to get signage up.

"Once that all settled in, we couldn't be happier with the new place," Jordan said. "Everyone's been very helpful and wonderful. State Farm has been very supportive, the town's been very supportive and it's been a great transition."

Organizations that helped businesses after the fire include the Norwich Community Development Corp., Norwich Rotary and Greater Norwich Chamber of Commerce.

Angela Adams, operations director of the chamber, said she hopes to do a ribbon-cutting for Hi Dental Care when it opens in its new permanent spot at 110 Salem Turnpike in a few months. Hi Dental Care is now at a temporary location at 1 Clinic Drive.

As for the remaining businesses that had been located at 598 West Main St., Taxpayers Assistance is now at 219 W. Town St. Unit C and Sure Bright Commercial Cleaning is at 210 Route 32 in North Franklin.