After car crashes into building, new Southbury seafood shop set to reopen

Aug. 25—It has been an interesting two weeks for Southbury Seafood Market owner Roy Khalil. Not long after opening the store, a car crashed through his storefront on earlier this month.

At the time, Khalil predicted that he would reopen in two weeks, serving meals to his dine-in customers and selling fresh fish in the market side of the business. While it will ultimately be a little over two weeks, the Southbury Seafood Market will reopen on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. and through it all Khalil has been patient and a realist.

"Accidents will happen, but the important thing is no one was hurt during the accident," Khalil said. "You can't replace people but the things damaged in the store are replaceable. Everything has come along nicely for the repairs. We are looking forward to our reopening."

Repair costs have totaled $81,000 for the storefront, ceiling and floor repairs, counter top repairs and replacement of two refrigeration appliances. Because there was a loss of refrigeration his fresh fish and other refrigerated food items would have spoiled. But Khalil donated all the food that had a chance to spoil, including 500 pounds of fish and 200 soups, to the Southbury and Woodbury food banks.

Overall, Khalil said with the cost to rebuild and replace store items, the food that had to be donated and the loss of revenue from being closed for two weeks amounts to about $150,000 in losses. Khalil said he has been working with the insurance company regarding the damage and repair costs.

"While the repair process has gone along okay, it has been a slow process," Khalil said. "We had to rebuild the front side of the storefront and all the items inside. We had to buy more fish and the products we need to reopen, so, we are getting there.

Khalil felt bad for his eight employees who have been out of work the past two weeks. But the three full-time and five part-time employees have returned and they, along with Khalil, have been prepping the restaurant for its reopening.

Khalil has been overwhelmed by the show of support from people in Southbury and surrounding communities since the accident happened..

"I have been receiving a lot of support from a lot of people and businesses in town and surrounding communities," Khalil said. "A lot of people have posted support and wished us well on our Facebook page and social media overall. It gives you a good feeling to see that kind of community support.

"We aren't going to have any special grand reopening or special event on Thursday. It will just be like any other day with a normal opening. We are all just so happy to be able to reopen, come back and serve our customers."

The Southbury Seafood Market is located on 466 Heritage Road near the Heritage Hotel.

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