Sharon Express Plugging Along After New Owner's Accident

Tuesday, Jonathan Hall visited "my own little market" for the first time in nearly a month.

Injuries from a on Sept. 27 has limited Hall lately to behind-the-scenes work , which he has owned since early September.

"Everything's kind of a little strange right now, everything that I go back to for the first time," Hall said Tuesday.

"I got home two days ago; that was a little weird. Now, here for the first time, it's a little strange.

"Family and friends have just stepped up and kept it going, and made some of the changes I started to put into place."

The Norwood resident plans to transform the Post Office Square market into "more of a neighborhood market" offering prepared foods, fresh baked goods, and cheeses and spreads.

Offering products that are "a little bit different" from a grocery store is his goal, he said.

"People really seemed to like the ideas, at least for the first few weeks that I was open," Hall said.

Hall said he had begun reorganizing the store, ordering new racks and new products, in September.

Then, the crash happened.

Hall said he recalls "very little" about the accident.

He was driving home from Mansfield after getting food for himself, he said.

Shortly after the accident, State Police said their preliminary investigation showed Hall apparently lost control of a 2002 Ford F150 pickup truck, which then rolled over, landed on its roof and was struck by a 2004 Volkswagen Jetta driven by Yanglai Ana Klengdong, 37, of South Boston. The crash happened at 12:25 Sept. 27 on I-95 North, south of Exit 9 in Sharon.

The crash's cause remained under investigation at that time.

Hall said he has been in the hospital for the past month. He injured "pretty much everything on my right side: hip, leg, collarbone, sternum, ribs, pelvis."

"A lot of broken bones. But, they're healing," he said.

Hall said his doctors "seem happy with the progress so far."

"I'm still not 100 percent. I don't know when that's going to be," he said.

However, despite his absence, Hall already is becoming part of the Sharon community.

"I actually got a couple of cards from customers," he said.

Hall said customers won't see him regularly for a while, until he recovers enough to be there.

"What I'm trying to do at this point is to be as involved in things from sort of a back office perspective, as much as I can from afar," Hall said.

"I can't drive. I can't get here, really, unless people can give me rides."

But, Hall doesn't anticipate closing for a period of time.

"The good news is, we've kept the store open. The good news is we've been able to make some of the changes. We'll just have to keep plugging away," he said.

"Thank goodness my family and friends have stepped up and been able to keep it going."

Customers' ideas for the market are welcomed, Hall said.

"If there's particular wines or beers they're looking for, or kinds of food or particular brands of foods they're looking for, I would love to know," he said.

"Have them drop by and let somebody behind the counter know."