Mary’s Donuts reopened to customers Tuesday following a day-long closure prompted by a crash that came within feet of plowing through the shop's front entrance.
The popular doughnut shop announced it would temporarily close its Santee location after a driver slammed into a pillar outside its shop on Carlton Hills Boulevard just before noon on Sunday.
On Tuesday at 4 a.m., the shop was back to business as usual albeit with some shaken nerves.
"It came within a foot of coming through the front entrance," owner Mary Hennessy told NBC 7. "Pretty scary, pretty scary. We're not accustomed to having a car come crashing."
The crash caused damage to the structure of the building, which prompted Mary's Donuts, and neighboring business American Karate, to close to business Sunday and Monday.
Loyal customers lined up for their donut fix Tuesday morning as the shop reopened.
"[I'm] delighted to see our customers come walking in and hope they’re aware of how much we appreciate them being here," Hennessy said.
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She said she likes to hear the story behind each of the customers that walk into the store. The walls of her doughnut shop are covered with hundreds of photos of customers, each taken while during the customer’s visit.
"Each and every one of these [people] I know and care about them all. Each one of them has a story," Hennessy said.
Caution fencing blocked off a damaged brick pillar outside the building that was struck by the 23-year-old driver on Mother's Day.
The driver was taken to the hospital with major injuries, according to the Santee Fire Department. No one inside was injured.
There was "a line of people [outside Mary's Donuts] 20 minutes before the crash," a worker at the neighboring Traditional American Karate told NBC 7.
"It was a miracle that no one got hurt," the worker said.
The cause of the crash is still unknown and being investigated by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.
