Hidden Secrets receives unusual visitor

Miriam Ostermann
Times Associate Editor

 

Local storeowner Elisa Maxwell experienced déjà vu last Tuesday, when a familiar tumultuous sound sent merchandise, glass, and debris flying as a vehicle jumped the curb and crashed through the building.
Maxwell was situated behind her counter at Hidden Secrets, distracted by numerous E-mails on Feb. 2, when the incident occurred; shattering two windowpanes, leaving a large hole where the cinderblocks shifted upon impact, and causing loss of stock. The collision was similar to a situation four years ago, when an SUV drove into Rocky’s Bakery – incidentally located in the same building.
“I was on my laptop sitting behind my desk and all of a sudden I heard the most horrific sound and in my mind I went ‘I know that sound,’ because I had heard it when the car went through Rocky’s window,” said Maxwell. “I turned my head, I had stock flying, and I could see there wasn’t anybody hurt. The next thing I knew I had people trying to get into the store, the door wouldn’t open because the frame was bent and the door was now jammed shut.”
Hidden Secrets was forced to close its doors Tuesday and Wednesday and with plywood now boarding up the damage, Maxwell is worried about the effect it’ll have on her business. Construction workers have also informed her that repairs could add at least two additional days of further delays in the future. Expecting foot-traffic in her store to decline, she fears the boarded windows signal that her business is not operational to the public.
Empathizing with Maxwell, Rocky Blokland, local town councillor, business owner, and owner of the building, was shut down for six months when the similar accident affected him in 2012.
“Any time you have a business interruption it’s going to cost you money,” he said. “Elisa is no different from us, we run our own businesses. We have to keep these doors open so we can sell stuff, so we can generate some revenue. We have personal lives, we have rent payments, utility payments … and we don’t get a cheque every week or every two weeks.”
According to Blokland, the driver of the vehicle was not injured and told him she had her foot on the gas pedal. However, having had two vehicles crash into the building within four years is frustrating to the local business owner, who placed some blame on the angled parking on 2nd Ave.
“We watch this every day, six days a week, and some of these people pull in and the front tires are bouncing on the curb on the top of the sidewalk,” he said. “Look at the other side of the street; parallel parking. In my 16 years here, I’ve never seen a building get hit on the other side of the street. Accidents happen, buildings can be fixed, but how do you compensate for human life?”
Maxwell is still waiting to receive a quote from her insurance company for the merchandise lost. While the incident remains burdensome for the small business owner, Maxwell, who said she paces a lot in her store and watches numerous people walk up and down the sidewalk daily, was more focused on the fact that nobody was hurt during the accident.
However, she agreed with Blokland that the vehicular activity outside the establishments on 2nd Ave is worrisome.
“I watch people pull u-turns and they’re going way too quick and I just have massive fears of them coming up on the sidewalk and hitting a mom with a stroller or a gent walking his dog,” she said. “I’m really happy that there were no residents of Strathmore or non-residents of Strathmore walking up and down the street at that particular moment and that nobody was hurt.”