If you know Machias, then you'll know this building
PHOTO CREDIT / Michael Atienza
The French Cellar's new location at 4 Colonial Way in Machias. The property was purchased by the company for $365,000 in February.
MACHIAS — The purchase of a historic building in downtown Machias was an easy decision for the owners of The French Cellar, a neighboring store that sells wine, craft beer and cheese.
The deal for 4 Colonial Way closed Feb. 11, at a price of $365,000, and The French Cellar was open for business by March 2— after moving 200 cases of wine and more than 50 cases of beer from its previous location at 7 Water St.
“This space is a lot more open and free-flowing. It’s more inviting. And it’s a great location, with huge windows on the front looking out over Main Street,” said Ryan French, who manages the business for his parents, owners Elizabeth and Robert French.
The deal is reported to be Machias’ largest commercial real estate transaction in recent history, said Michael Atienza, an associate broker at Magnusson Balfour, who represented the sellers and also guided the buyers through the transaction.
The French Cellar is Elizabeth “Betsy” French’s brainchild. In a 2015 interview with Mainebiz, she said the business’ arrival was a surprise to locals. No one expected it to succeed. A retired chef from Maryland, she and her husband landed in neighboring Cutler because its coastal property was “the first ocean we could afford.” With business-planning assistance from the state Department of Economic and Community Development, French determined Machias’ downtown was a viable business option, fed by Route 1 travelers and locals, yet not without its challenges.
“It’s a hard area to come into and open a business,” French said in 2015. “It’s not booming. But I have a decent customer base. It wouldn’t be enough money to raise a family. But for a retiree, it works.” The business community welcomed her.
The French Cellar’s previous site was at 7 Water St., on the other side of the block from the new location. The Frenches were leasing space at that first location, then decided to look into purchasing that building, said Ryan French. But it needed a fair amount of work and the purchase didn’t make financial sense.
Originally, the Frenches considered leasing space at 4 Colonial Way, where the building’s owners, Michael and Patricia Sansing, have operated the Whole Life Natural Market since 2003.
As it worked out, the Sansings put the building on the market — though the Whole Life Natural Market plans to stay put, as a tenant.
Robert and Elizabeth French formed MRRE Holdings LLC to buy the building. The acronym is the first initial of each family member — Michaela, the couple’s daughter, who is an accountant and manages the company’s books; Ryan, Robert and Elizabeth.
As it turned out, Robert had a job opportunity in Canada, so he and Elizabeth made plans to move. In the meantime, Ryan had recently graduated from college and was trying to figure out what to do next. So the parents installed their son as manager.
“It fell into place,” said Ryan. “And they’re having a grand old time in Nova Scotia.”
Built in 1928, the 13,572-square-foot, three-story building — which has great visibility on Route 1, which is called Main Street as it traverses downtown Machias — has gone through a variety of iterations over the decades, including a funeral parlor, doctors’ offices, retail stores and bakery, said Atienza.
The building has four apartments and six commercial spaces.
Commercial space is occupied by the Whole Life Natural Market, which isn’t going anywhere; Columbia Falls Pottery; Coastal Soundwaves Music Store; Ray Foster Antiques & Fine Art Store; the office of Susan West, the financial representative for Northwestern Mutual in Downeast Maine; and now The French Cellar.
The building has been well kept through the years and is today in great shape, so the Frenches don’t anticipate much in the way of further investment, besides some plumbing and electrical work and a bit of cosmetic work. Ryan French said he’s grateful to the Sansings for guiding him in the management of the building.
“It was a formidable move,” he said.
With other thriving businesses in the building — and other exciting businesses such as Axiom Technologies and the artist community Beehive Collective adjacent to the building — Atienza said The French Cellar’s presence will add more variety for a “one-stop shopping” feel in the general location.
Ryan French enjoys the building’s historic character.
“What’s cool is that, looking at old pictures of the building and looking at it now, it looks pretty much exactly the same,” he said.
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