American Fork shop reopens nearly 5 months after crash

AMERICAN FORK — Nearly five months after a crash in which a car drove into the rear of the building and left extensive damage, a shop in Utah County reopened to customers this week.

Deer Haven Ribbon and Blooms officially opened Tuesday after numerous repairs inside and outside the historic 1890s-era building in American Fork that housed the business.

"(Workers) had to redo all the floors, the outside whole wall, a whole new window, repair the outside, new moldings, new paint," owner Cami Stark listed during an interview Wednesday evening with KSL. "They didn't even finish all of their construction until the beginning of October."

The crash on Father's Day initially left Stark questioning whether she'd reopen at all.

"When it happened, it was like, 'Is this our moment to stop and just say we're done?'" Stark recalled thinking. "'It's OK. Let's wrap it up. It's been a lot of work, I have five kids' — you know, I had a lot going on."

Stark said she built her business from the ground up, however, and she was determined for the shop — which offers everything from flowers to candy — to open into the future.

"I think what I tried to do is say, 'How can we make this bad situation better?'" Stark said.

So, she said she went to extra lengths to keep money flowing in and to keep the business top of mind with its customers.

"We do have a candy truck," Stark explained. "It's called 'Deer Haven Candy Co.,' where it's a little pink truck that we take around to weddings and farmers' markets and we have our Swedish candy."

Stark said she was taken aback by the support she received from the community, and she is grateful.

"We had the opportunities, the way I'm looking at it, to build bigger and better and take that hardship and that tragedy and make it something that was OK for us and better for us — if we had to find a silver lining," Stark said. "I feel like it was worth it to have a place where people feel loved and a place that they can come and feel peaceful and calm and happy."