Long-time Lewiston pawnshop building generates interest from cannabis retailer
Courtesy / Fletcher Group at Keller Williams Realty
A century-old building that housed Pine Tree Trading Co. for over 30 years is tucked between two modern buildings just outside Lisbon Street’s commercial district.
A downtown Lewiston building that housed a pawn shop for three decades has been sold to a buyer who plans a retail cannabis operation.
Marcel Morin, who operated the Pine Tree Trading Co. pawn shop, sold 426 Lisbon St. to 539 Washington LLC by for $140,000.
Kevin Fletcher of the Fletcher Group at Keller Williams Realty brokered both sides of the deal.
The property comprises a small 4,756-square-foot commercial retail building dating back about a century and a rear parking lot off Park Street. Situated at the south edge of the Lisbon Street portion of Lewiston’s commercial historic district, it was marketed as a “Southern Gateway of Lewiston” property that offers excellent visibility and exposure for a variety of retail uses, with a second floor that offers expansion possibilities.
“We had an enormous amount of activity from cannabis retailers,” said Fletcher.
The buyer, who paid cash, has a cannabis growing operation in Turner and plans to renovate the building to put in a cannabis retail operation, said Fletcher.
Fletcher said he’s known the seller and his family for over two decades.
“Wonderful, salt-of-the-earth, super-nice guy,” he said of Morin.
The building needs some work, but is in a great location, he added.
Pawnshop
Morin, a Lewiston native, opened the Pine Tree Trading Co. pawn shop in 1988.
“I worked for a pawn shop for 10 years and decided to open one on my own,” he said. “I wound up at 426 Lisbon St.”
He sold both new and second-hand items, including gold, silver, CDs, VCRs and collectibles.
“I kept very busy,” he said.
Customers were generally local residents from the neighborhood, with some who drove into town to see him.
“Local people who couldn’t get a loan would come to see us,” he added.
Last April, Morin contracted a serious case of COVID-19. Unable to work, he closed the shop for good and contacted Fletcher to have him market the property.
“When I fell sick my kids were instrumental in cleaning out my inventory, selling some of it, putting some in storage,” he said. “I’m 75. It was time for me to retire.”
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