FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — A bagel shop owner says he's just grateful no one was seriously hurt after a driver smashed into his brand-new business.
Bagel Joy in the Fair Lakes Shopping Center was set to open to the public on Monday, May 13.
"This has been a three-year journey that started when COVID hit," explained David Picard.
Picard is the owner of Bagel Joy. He says during the pandemic he started making bagels in his home.
"I was craving a good bagel during the pandemic and I couldn't find one and I started making them," said Picard.
He and his family began selling them at farmers markets. In the fall, they started working on opening up a storefront in the Fair Lakes Shopping Center.
"There's lots of shortcuts you can take with bagels. We have a 30-hour process for making our bagels," he explained, as he showed WUSA9 around the kitchen.
"The walk-in cooler will be filled with bagels that will proof for 30 hours before we bake them. We boil them, we bake them. We don't steam them. We don't take shortcuts. We flip them so they're evenly coated on both sides. There are a lot of things that we've learned in three years that we're excited to bring to the area," said Picard.
"This is our community and so we've been building a lot of excitement. We can't wait to bring our bagels to this area," he told WUSA9.
But Tuesday afternoon, less than one week before their official opening, a driver crashed through the front of the shop.
Picard says his son Caleb, and his son's girlfriend, Julia, who are both managers at the shop were inside. He was about five minutes away running errands.
He says Julia was sitting at the front of the shop when it happened.
"Right in the front of house with her back to the glass. When the car came in, it struck her, and she went flying," said Picard.
He says she was understandably shaken up, but luckily, she was not seriously hurt.
Fairfax County Police say an older man was trying to park his car in the shopping center when he accidentally hit the gas instead of the brakes and went flying into the store.
He was not injured, according to fire officials.
"Oh my goodness yea, I'm grateful no one was hurt. It could have been so much worse for Julia who was sitting out front," said Picard.
He told WUSA9 what happened was unfortunate, but not the end of the world.
"We have insurance. That's why we have insurance. We'll fix it. It's gonna take more time, but it's not gonna knock us off our path," he said.
He says right now they're working with the insurance companies to get estimates and try to get back on track.
"It's going to take a little bit longer and that sometimes happens. But, when I look at all the pain and suffering in the world. I have health, I have air conditioning, I have a shop, I have a family. We will get through this," said Picard.
"As long as everyone gets out okay, it's a bad day at work and we can survive a bad day at work," he said.
He told WUSA9 that Bagel Joy got its name because they care about two things. Bagels and bringing joy to their community. They hope to bring both of these things to Fairfax County as soon as possible.
You can stay up to date on their progress here.