Tonore: We never missed a beat after crash

One might think a vehicle crash accidentally turning your store into a drive-thru might affect business, but Tonore's Wine Cellar owner George Tonore said his business never missed a beat.

"I was outside when it happened," he said. "I was walking toward the store. I just saw the emergency vehicle hit the sign. I never saw the car go in. It just happened so fast. There was five people in the store. Thank God nobody was hurt."

The accident happened April 15 when a Monroe Fire Department SUV, which was responding to another vehicle accident, struck a red Acura on Louisville Avenue, which pushed the vehicle through the front glass of Tonore's.

Tonore said the process of fixing the building and continuing business has run as smoothly as one could expect.

"It's been good," he said. "You have to line everybody up. We've got the front repaired. We haven't got the painting done yet. The flooring will come later."

The store was opened for business the next day, he said.

"We had some good help from the contractor and the glass company," Tonore said. "The contractor boarded it up and then we waited on the glass to come in. Once the glass came in, we got the contractor to build the frame. We haven't missed a beat."

Tonore said the support he has seen from the community — mixed in with the occasional drive-thru joke — has been outstanding.

"People have called and were very concerned," he said. "They wanted to make sure nobody was hurt, and it was just very nice. The city was concerned as well."

Actually, when The News-Star spoke to Tonore, he was in the middle of talking to the driver of the Acura.

"He came in for the first time since the crash," he said. "He joked that he just wanted to provide a drive-thru window for the store."

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