Courtesy photo
Dan and Lois Porta, founders and co-owners of Lois' Natural Marketplace
Updated: November 24, 2020
Lois' Natural Marketplace to close Portland store, consolidate in Scarborough
Photo / Peter Van Allen
Organic food store Lois' Natural Marketplace will close its store in Portland's East End on Wednesday, and consolidate operations at the Scarborough location.
By William Hall
With business from downtown office workers falling off, food retailer Lois’ Natural Marketplace will permanently close its Portland store Wednesday and consolidate operations at its Scarborough market.
The dozen employees of the store at 47 India St., Portland, have all been offered jobs in Scarborough, which currently has 15 workers and is expanding hours, co-owner Dan Porta said Tuesday.
He and co-owner Lois Porta, his wife, had originally hoped to “hibernate” the Portland organic food market for the winter, and emailed customers last Thursday to let them know of the plan.
But on Tuesday Porta told Mainebiz, “We do not have plans to reopen the Portland store,” and said he expected the landlord of the 3,300-square-foot property to begin seeking a new tenant within days.
“This is a heartbreak, for sure,” he said, calling the Portland store, in the heart of the city’s popular East End, a “dream come true.”
Lois’ Natural, which opened 27 years ago at 152 U.S. Route 1 in Scarborough, added the Portland store in 2015. The landlord there is Portland-based Porta & Co., headed by Dan and Lois Porta’s son, Joseph Porta.Â
As at many retailers, the pandemic has dealt a heavy blow to Lois’ Natural. Sales in the Portland store have been down 47% from usual levels since the start of the pandemic, Dan Porta said.
Much of the fall-off has been due to a sharp decline in customers from nearby businesses. They include Tilson and the global headquarters of WEX Inc., both within blocks, where many employees have been working remotely because of the public health concerns.
Porta said there’s also been less “spillover” business from patrons of neighboring restaurants, such as Eventide and Duckfat, and of Micucci Grocery, a 71-year-old Italian market just across Middle Street from Lois’ Natural.
If not for COVID-19, the Portland store “really would have been doing great” this year, Porta said.
At the 5,000-square-foot Scarborough market, business is off too, but only by about half as much, he noted. Lois’ Natural is expanding curbside and delivery service from the store to cover Portland, and is reopening its deli in Scarborough.
“For us, this is really a consolidation,” Porta said. “We’re gearing up so that we’ll be stronger on our feet, and so we won’t be behind the eight-ball if another shutdown happens.”
Courtesy photo
Lois' Natural Marketplace will consolidate operations at its original location in Scarborough, which opened in 1993.
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