Third World Trading Co. in Oak Bluffs is back in business after a driver crashed into the building last month.

Owner Lori Katsounakis is seeing customers by appointment at the 52 Circuit avenue clothing and gift store, which sustained significant damage to its facade in the Nov. 22 crash. The alleged driver of the vehicle, Theodore Bennett of Edgartown, has been charged with operating under the influence of alcohol.

The front of the Third World building is currently boarded up and tarped over, but Ms. Katsounakis said she received approval to open from Oak Bluffs building official Matt Rossi, whom the Gazette could not immediately reach for comment.

Store is by appointment only.

Ray Ewing

Store is by appointment only.

Ray Ewing

“It took me a while to get the store back in order,” Ms. Katsounakis said. “A lot of stuff was messed up.”

Ms. Katsounakis confirmed the police’s claim that the front of the building incurred significant damage in the crash, including to the front stairs, porch, windows and some merchandise.

“All of the glass is gone, except for one of the four panes,” she said.

Ms. Katsounakis called the situation “difficult,” especially during the holiday season.

“I’m kind of dangling,” she said.

When Ms. Katsounakis got the call that someone drove into her storefront, she was in New York coordinating a reunion between her 93-year-old mother and her aunt, who hadn’t seen each other in 30 years.

“I really wanted to come back that night, but I couldn’t just abandon my sister with my mom,” she said.

Ms. Katsounakis said her tenant was in the shower at the time of the crash and FaceTimed her from the street to show her the damage. According to police, the impact of the crash caused the tenant to hit her head.

“My tenant upstairs was in the shower, and she’s the one who called me first,” she said. “She was hysterical. Her hair was still wet…. I guess the whole building shook.”

Ms. Katsounakis is grateful for friends who banded together in her absence to board up the building. She’s considering different options for rebuilding and in the process of assessing the cost to repair the damage.

She urged people interested in shopping with her to call her to arrange an appointment. She said the store’s side entrance is still functional.

“I’m trying to make lemonade from the lemons,” she said. “It’s gonna be okay.”