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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Adeshola Ore Community affairs reporter

When a tobacco shop opened next door, a Melbourne couple’s dream cafe went up in smoke: ‘It felt like a warzone’

Ashish Sharma Tobacco Melbourne Police Vegetarian
Victoria police establish a crime scene after a fire at a tobacco shop in Fitzroy North in Melbourne on Monday also damaged neighbouring businesses, including a vegan cafe.
Victoria police establish a crime scene after a fire at a tobacco shop in Fitzroy North in Melbourne on Monday that also damaged neighbouring businesses, including a vegan cafe. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

For five months, Ashish Sharma and Manali Purohit scoured Facebook Marketplace for secondhand furniture, layered coats of paints on walls and installed plumbing to fit out their dream cafe.

“We put in basically all our life savings. We did a lot of it DIY,” says co-owner Sharma.

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