🔒From an ice cream shop to a hot tub dealer, a wave of new businesses is opening in downtown Bangor

A slew of small businesses have opened in downtown Bangor this year, with more to come.

“One of my favorite things to do is to get people excited about moving down here, opening a business and being part of a community,” says Betsy Lundy, executive director of the Downtown Bangor Partnership, a nonprofit that promotes and markets activities and encourages retention and growth of commercial, residential and cultural life.

The district stretches from a northern boundary of Cumberland, Harlow and Court street to a southern boundary along the Penobscot River, known as the Bangor Waterfront, to I-395.

The resident population in Maine’s third largest city is about 33,000. During the day, that number triples with the influx of workers and consumers, creating business opportunities.

“Everybody understands that more of something isn’t competition for them; it helps lift them up,” Lundy says of business owners. “Having one bar in your downtown isn’t nearly as good as having 10 bars. People like the options, they like the experience.”

“We’re getting a lot more interest in retail coming downtown, which is wonderful,” says Anne Krieg, the city’s director of development. “I think people love shopping downtown. They like walking around and getting a coffee and seeing their friends and going in and out of stores.”

New businesses are filling almost all of the downtown’s retail space, leaving about 2% vacancy, not counting unusable space, says Lundy.

Community connection

Jazmine Horne opened Dream in Gold Jewelry, in a lease at 98 Central St., to offer jewelry that she makes as well as a “charm bar.” Customers pick from hundreds of charms and create their own jewelry.

Charms include letters, characters, lobsters and special ones like figures from the children’s TV show “Paw Patrol.”

Horne went to school in New York to study hotel, restaurant and tourism management. She started selling jewelry in 2020, in California, and decided last year to do it full-time.

Her fiancé Josiah Stanley is from Maine, so Horne moved to Bangor in late 2021.

The charm bar is set up as a place for customers to book parties and events. She’s doing collaborations with other small businesses. With an Orono candlemaker, people could pick charms or jewelry and incorporate them into the candle to make a gift.

“I always wanted to have a small business where I could host events and have some type of connection with the community,” she says.

Serial entrepreneur

Roscoe Witham is renovating space at 73 Main St. to open the Downtown Spot, an ice cream and grab-and-go food shop.

Across the street from the Maine Discovery Museum, it’s well situated to attract children and families. Grab-and-go items like lasagna and moussaka will come from Utopia, a Bangor restaurant owned by his wife Rachel.

A serial entrepreneur, Witham’s other endeavors include Float 207, a sensory deprivation tank and wellness center in Hermon. The decision to open an ice cream shop was simple: He was looking around the downtown and saw there wasn’t one.

With counters and appliances installed and finish work done, the goal is to open in coming weeks.

“Ideally, next summer we’d love to put in a walk-up window,” he says.

Health access

Alley and Brad Tuttle opened Apotheosis Health in Suite 3 at 4 Union St., known as the Union Plaza building.

Alley is a nurse practitioner and Brad a nurse. The Bangor residents have been in health care for over a decade.

“We’ve seen the struggles people have been going through and it’s been escalating since covid,” says Brad.

Apotheosis offers membership-based services without copays, deductibles or the need for billing or insurance. Services include primary care, urgent care, IV infusion therapy, routine lab tests and 24/7 access via text or phone. Insurance can still be used for services outside of Apotheosis.

“It’s just easier, friendlier and quicker,” says Alley.

Caribbean vibe

Dane Morgan, a Brooklyn native, migrated to Maine after a military career and opened Salt North Tap Room — motto: Come Catch the Vibe — at 16 Union St. There’s a pool table, multiple TVs, bar, kitchen out back emanating tasty aromas and, out back, a barbecue grill and extensive seating. The menu revolves around Caribbean tastes and include items like quesadillas and slow-braised oxtail tucked between crispy tortillas with a blend of cheeses, Caribbean spice and a little smokiness.

“I fell in love with Maine and decided to move here,” Morgan says.

The location near the waterfront was a big draw. Customers flow in from the Waterfront Concerts and from the downtown’s nightlife. “It’s all got to flow together,” he says.

And the name? “Salt is the most important ingredients in all of food, in all of life,” he says.

Side gig

Miriam Davidson and Jeremy Richardson offer vintage clothing and accessories at Log Jam Vintage.

Residents of Jonesport, 80 miles east of Bangor, both have day jobs: Davidson is a psychiatric nurse practioner and Richardson a fisherman and carpenter. Six years ago, they bought the Moose Peak Lighthouse on Mistake Island off Jonesport. The store’s proceeds go toward restoring the lighthouse.

“It needed quite a bit of work,” Davidson says of the lighthouse.

They were in Bangor in February for a basketball tournament, walked by 8 Harlow St. and wondered what it would cost to rent there. “Right now we’re just trying to get the name out,” she says. “We’re excited for when the students come back. Our best selling time is fall and winter. We do a lot of flannels and jackets.”

Bigger digs

Earlier this year, Rhoda Burke bought a floral business, Lougee & Frederick’s, and moved it from a 958-square-foot space to a 10,000-square-foot, more visible location at 21 Washington St. in Penobscot Plaza. Neighbors include Henry’s Bridal and Quality Jewelers, making Penobscot Plaza something of a “wedding central,” Lundy notes.

Lougee & Frederick’s is the only florist in Maine with two American Institute of Floral Designers florists on staff.

Burke began pursuing floriculture in the 1980s and owns another shop in Blue Hill. She bought Lougee & Frederick’s, established over 80 years ago, from Bill Sheehan. The move provides more cooler and storage space, plus a loading dock and a back-up area, allowing Burke to introduce do-it-yourself flower arrangements and design classes, buy in bulk and expand with a wider selection of cards, plants and artisanal products.

The larger showroom includes partitioned floral settings such as a bridal room, sympathy room and living room. The location is easily walkable from the downtown and there’s plenty of parking.

“The walk-in traffic has been phenomenal,” she says. “We’re seeing 20 to 30 people per day now. And before we might have seen two or three.”

Boomerangs

The downtown is attracting so-called boomerangers, Maine natives who left and have now returned.

Annie Cutler opened Sunbury’s, at 86 Hammond St., to offer wine, foods and kitchenware.

She grew up in the area, went to New York City to work in film advertising and publicity and returned to Bangor to work in event management, then became vice president and chief operating officer of the University of Maine Alumni Association.

The shop was a longtime dream and the timing was right. The store features Maine products as well as goods easily found in a larger city but not so much in Maine. Many people, she notes, move to Maine for quality of life and to raise a family.

“But they still want what they had where they came from, like quality olive oil.”

Julianne and Andrew Sawyer opened Sawyer’s Shave Ice at 173 Park St. to offer traditional Hawaiian-style shave ice made with a wide selection of tropical flavors. Born and raised in Bangor, they lived in San Francisco, where Julianne was a freelance writer and content creator. Andrew is a software engineer.

In 2020, they moved to Maui, Hawaii, fell in love with the way of life and had Hawaiian shave ice for the first time.

“They serve it with ice cream at the bottom and a ‘snow cap,’ which is a drizzle of sweetened condensed milk, on the top,” says Julianne.

Additional ingredients include a powder made from dried salted plum, called li hing mui, and toasted coconut shavings. The ingredients and the syrup concentrates come from Hawaii.

Returning to Bangor in 2022, they started a food truck to offer the treat, operating June through September.

“By the end of the season last year, we said, ‘We should open a storefront,’” she says.

Relocation

Sandollar Spa and Pool moved from Brewer to 193 Broad St., a two-story building with big windows and a deck that work well for displays. There’s more room for hot tubs, saunas, even an “endless” pool with a “hydro drive” current for stationary swimming that customers can try.

Jeff Simons, who owns the business with his wife Danielle, started working for Sandollar when he was 13 and his brother owned it. The business started in Ellsworth in the mid-1980s. About 20 years ago, it moved to leased space in Brewer.

The couple bought the business in 2019 and decided Bangor was a better opportunity, thanks to more business traffic and the larger space — 17,900 square feet in Bangor versus 7,000 square feet — allowing them to show all of their sauna options.

Sales are steady — 200 hot tubs and about 30 saunas annually. Simons says that, according to a market study, the majority of spa and sauna sales are within 10 miles of a dealers’ store.

Capturing the sentiment in the downtown community, he notes, “People want to do business with somebody local.”