Car drives into Clarence business one week after it opens

CLARENCE, N.Y. (WIVB) — A car drove into a Clarence business Tuesday morning — a bookstore, bar, coffee shop combo that had only been open for about a week.

The damage was covered up in the back of BestCellar Book Bar after the crash took place. Inside, a tarp has been put up. Peter and Devon Powers, a father and daughter duo, are the brains behind this start-up business.

“We were both on our way to the store, Devon beat me here and when I came in she was just sitting on the couch … at first I thought she was going to cry, but then she started laughing because it’s like, well, this is too real or too surreal,” Peter Powers said.

BestCellar had been open only one week when they got a call from their landlord that their building had been damaged.

“We both took it in stride,” Powers said. “What are you going to do? Fortunately, it hit a part of the space that didn’t affect our operations. The town said we could stay open. The landlord, Stephen Development, started emergency repairs immediately. Most of those are done, I’m sure they will be done by early next week.”

BestCellar Book Bar is located on 9650 Main St. in Clarence and is open seven days a week.

“It’s really a multi-use facility,” Powers said. “We have food, small-plate foods, beer and wine. We have new books for sale, we have used books.”

With Thanksgiving just a week away, the Powers family has much to be thankful for, including that the damage wasn’t worse.

“Thankful that we didn’t have to close down,” Powers said.

Erie County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the crash. Investigators say a resident of the complex there jumped the curb and hit the building. There were no injuries.

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Jeff Preval is an award-winning anchor and reporter who joined the News 4 team in December 2021. See more of his work here.

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