Following Fire, Bagel King Re-Opens its Doors

After 14.5 years of business without closing its doors for a day, it took a fire to close .

And following a Dec. 17 fire that , Ahmad Waheed's bagel shop, which he's owned since 1997, is as open as soon as it could be - actually, it was open Thursday, five days after the incident.

And he has no plans of closing back up any time soon.

"People count on me," he said on Friday. "On holidays everybody usually has company. And people come back to this beautiful community and they want to come, you know?"

Waheed said there was no damage to his shop in the fire. But due to extensive damage on the second floor, electricity and gas to the building was cut off for a few days. And following the incident, his business had to get clearance from the County Health Department to open back up.

Bagal King will be open from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m., per usual, on Christmas Eve and Christmas. And the day after that. And the day after that.