Photo / Maureen Milliken
Wrapped Up Coffee, which opened this week at 216 Water St., in Augusta, has taken over the space most recently home to Huiskamer Coffee House.
April 15, 2021
Downtown Augusta, Hallowell, Waterville businesses celebrate new beginnings
Photo / Maureen Milliken
Ryan and Amanda Hill, with their sons Dean and Silas, have opened Wrapped Up Coffee at 216 Water St., Augusta, in what was most recently Huiskamer Coffee Shop. The ribbon-cutting Wednesday was one of four in central Maine this week.
By Maureen Milliken
Amanda and Ryan Hill own a wrap shop near the Memorial Circle rotary in Augusta, but they'd always had their eye on downtown. That dream was about to come true a year ago when a closing on Water Street space was canceled as the pandemic hit.
Timing is never good — the young couple have two toddlers and have worked hard to keep the sandwich shop open the past year — but when the Hills had another chance this spring on a downtown space this spring, they didn't hesitate.
"I've been wanting to be down here since we moved here five years ago," Ryan Hill said Tuesday as he and Amanda set up for Wednesday's ribbon-cutting at Wrapped Up Coffee House, 216 Water St.
The ceremonial opening was one of three by Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce businesses in downtown Augusta and Hallowell this week. Up the river, Front & Main, the restaurant at the new Lockwood Hotel in downtown Waterville, also planned a ribbon-cutting for Thursday.
"It's great to see business picking up again and the drive and motivation behind new businesses that are coming the Kennebec Valley," Katie Doherty, president and CEO of the KV Chamber said. She told Mainebiz there are two more next week, too, in Augusta and Gardiner.
On Monday, the chamber held a ribbon-cutting at 351 Water St., where Matt Pouliot officially opened Pouliot Real Estate in the historic building he recently renovated into apartments and retail space.
Friday, Doherty will take her red ribbon and giant scissors to 136 Water St., in Hallowell, where Maine Local Market, a store and eatery specializing in local meat and produce, will officially open.
Bittersweet Water Street opening
The Hills have owned Wrapped Up, at 1 Hichborn St., in Augusta, since 2018 and Ryan Hill worked there for six years before that, when it was Bay Wrap.
Wrapped Up sold food to Huiskamer Coffee House, in the space where Hill's new coffee shop is going, and when owner Grace Fecteau earlier this year told Hill that the pandemic had finally pushed her to close the two-year-old shop, Hill made an offer on the equipment and furnishings. Fecteau accepted.
"It was bittersweet," Hill said. "Definitely a salty experience."
The Wrapped Up sandwich stop will continue to do business up the hill, with Sean Bloodsworth as general manager, and the Hills will run the coffee shop down the street. They are leasing the 900-square-foot space in the recently renovated Macomber Block from owner Glenn Guerrette, of Guerrette Properties
The Huiskamer Coffee House sign still hangs above the door, until the Wrapped Up sign is delivered. The comfortable chairs and other furnishings from Huiskamer are staying, too.
There are some differences, though. Coffee will be from Coffee on the Porch, a small batch roastery in Camden owned by Dan Dishner, who Hill knew as a teacher at Camden High School. Pastries are from B+T Baked Goods, in Pittston, and Tree Street Bakery, in Gardiner.
Hill said that his longtime desire to own a business in downtown Augusta had a lot to do with the sense of community, as well as the energy behind its revitalization.
"Everything that's happened down here the past five years is so exciting, and it's great to be a part of it," Hill said. The shop had a soft opening last week, and there's been a lot of interest from people walking by.
"They seem excited to have us here," he said.
Courtesy / Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce
Matt Pouliot cuts the ribbon Monday at the new location for Pouliot Real Estate, 351 Water St., Augusta. Katie Doherty, Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce CEO holds the ribbon, at right.
Ribbon-cuttings in Augusta, Hallowell, Waterville
Three blocks south, at 351 Water St., the ribbon was cut Monday at Pouliot Real Estate. The firm moved into the renovated historic building at the south end of downtown from its space in the former federal building at 299 Water St.
Pouliot completed the renovation earlier this year. Other tenants are Maine Math and Science Alliance and Gallant Therapy Services. Lilac Catering & Mixology leases space on the lower level, which is also being renovated into an event area that will accommodate up to 240 people. There are nine apartments on the second level, all leased.
At Monday's ribbon-cutting, a crowd of tenants, downtown business owners and other supporters gathered behind the ribbon. Pouliot said the celebration was more for all the new businesses at the 341-351 Water St. property, and about bringing the building back to life.
In downtown Hallowell, Maine Local Market is moving into what had been Scrummy Afters Candy Shoppe. The store closed a year ago to focus on online retail after being in the space since 2012.
Maine Local Market officially opened April 4, and sells locally sourced produce, meat, cheese, beer, wine, baked goods, including freshly baked bread, made-to-order sandwiches and meals to go.
In Waterville Thursday afternoon, Front & Main, which opened last month, celebrates that fact with a ribbon-cutting at its downtown 9 Main St. location hosted by the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce. The restaurant is part of Colby College's Lockwood Hotel, which is slated to open this summer.
The restaurant features contemporary American cuisine by chef Jesse Souza, and has a formal dining room, communal lounge and bar, and outdoor patio with fire pits and event space. Work by painter and sculptor Bernard Langlais and Passamaquoddy basket weaver Jeremy Frey, curated by the Colby College Museum of Art, is featured, as is a long list of local food and drink producers.
Restaurant partners include Crooked Face Creamery, Maine Grains and Rowbottom Farm, all of Skowhegan; South China’s 3 Level Farm; Winter Point Oysters, of Bath; Universal Bread, of Waterville; Cushnoc Brewing, of Augusta; Bissell Brothers, of Portland; Maine Beer Co., of Freeport; Freedom’s Edge Cider, of Belgrade; with spirits from Liquid Riot, Wiggly Bridge and Tree Spirits, of Oakland.
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