Marden’s is ready to buy the former Wal-Mart store in Scarborough and open what would be its largest store in the state, but the discount retailer first needs Scarborough Planning Board approval.
Marden’s wasn’t necessarily planning an expansion in this economy, but Paul LePage, Marden’s general manager, told Mainebiz this morning that the company couldn’t pass up this opportunity. “It’s just an empty building in a good market,” he said. “We’ve been looking in the Portland-Scarborough area for a number of years and this became available.”
The former Wal-Mart building on Payne Road in Scarborough is roughly 119,000 square feet and would be “slightly larger” than the company’s largest store in Waterville, LePage said. Wal-Mart closed the store in April when it opened a larger Supercenter nearby. LePage would not say how much Marden’s would pay for the building, but the town assesses it for tax purposes at $4.8 million, according to the Scarborough assessor’s office.
Marden’s currently has a small store in Portland in the Pine Tree Shopping Center on Brighton Ave. LePage said the company would keep both stores open if its new store in Scarborough is approved.
Marden’s needs Scarborough Planning Board approval before it buys the building, which LePage says is very unusual since the company would use the building the same way Wal-Mart did. “This is the first time we’ve encountered this, but it is what it is and we’ll go through it,” LePage said. “The deal would be done if it wasn’t for the planning board.”
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