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It’s been six months since a car crashed through the wall of Mamadou’s Artisan Bakery, knocking out power to the Swanton Street business and causing its closure just four days before the Christmas holidays.
And while owners Mamadou and Mame Mbaye say it was a long wait, they are thrilled to be open once again.
“It was a long process…a long, long process,” said Mame Mbaye. “But we decided to re-open May 31 and we put a note on Facebook to tell people. On Saturday morning, it was jammed. People came and we were so happy.”
Mamadou Mbaye said the business passed its inspection on May 30 and was open the next day.
“I said, let’s just open tomorrow,” he said, of the decision. “We waited through a long winter.”
Mame agreed.
“People who came in said, ‘We missed you so much,’” she said. “The Sunday after we opened, was also so busy. It’s like we never closed.”
The accident
It was just after 6 o’clock on Dec. 21, 2024 when police were called to the 63 Swanton St. location of Mamadou’s Artisan Bakery for a report of a car that had crashed through the building.
Winchester Police said the driver, who lives in the area, was on his way home when he tried to take a left on Florence Street. The driver told police the car in front of him slammed on its brakes, causing him to try to avoid it.
The driver said his car skidded and struck Mamadou’s electrical panel, going through the wall.
Lt. Ed Donohue said the damage to the driver’s car was consistent to his story. He added the driver was not intoxicated or impaired and was uninjured.
He said the damage to Mamadou’s was the loss of both power and heat as well as the hole in the wall.
The Mbayes were onsite the day after the accident, cleaning up the interior of the store. The business, however, was closed and has been since the accident.
A GoFundMe raised $ $21,345 to help the family with expenses.
What’s next?
The Mbayes said the closure was really tough, especially since the repair work couldn’t be done right away.
“It couldn’t be done because it was such a cold winter,” said Mamadou. “Cement doesn’t cure in cold weather. We have to have warm weather. That was the biggest problem.”
But once the weather changed, the masonry work went quickly and the building commissioner came out to inspect the site.
Beside waiting for the weather to warm up, the couple joked they spent their winter looking for a good place to buy bread. Mame, a self-proclaimed bread lover, said they visited many area bakeries, checking out the competition and looking for the perfect loaf.
“It was really difficult to find good bread,” she said, with a laugh. “Mamadou’s has the best bread!”
Mamadou said it was nice to know the community missed having their business open, especially since everything is made on site.
“When people come in, they see the product being made, they smell it and they know it’s made here,” he said. “As a baker, I love what I do. It’s not just a job, it’s something that I really love to do.”
The couple also said they wanted to convey their appreciation and love to the Winchester community for its support and concern over the past six months.
“Please thank everyone for us,” Mamadou said. “We love the Winchester community.”
