A co-working space that features a café with made-to-order smoothies is getting ready to open in the North Windham Shopping Center at 765 Roosevelt Trail.
Called Blended, the business aims to fill a gap in the market by offering a dedicated, collaborative office environment closer to home for local remote workers and entrepreneurs who currently have to travel to Portland for similar amenities, said Haley McGovern, who scheduled a grand opening for March 28.
McGovern is a mortgage broker who operates her business, 207 Loans, in the same shopping center.
Formerly a merchant mariner, she’s been in mortgage services for six years and established 207 Loans last August.
She started Blended with her husband, also a merchant mariner.
‘Saw the need’
“We knew the space was coming for lease as that is where my mortgage brokerage is, so we just thought about what the community would enjoy,” she told Mainebiz. “We never had a dream to open co-working. Just saw the need.”
The co-working space will operate on a membership model and offer a variety of work settings, including six private offices, 10 private workstations, three conference rooms and a living room-style lounge area.
The smoothie café will be open to the general public and will feature real fruit and ingredients, allowing for customizable add-ons like protein. There will be an online ordering system for grab-and-go service.
The leased, 6,000-square-foot space was in an outdated condition.
“We had an eight-month renovation of building out all the co-working spaces and the smoothie bar,” she said.
A general manager has been hired.
The location has high traffic from two gyms in the same shopping center, plus a post office and eatery, McGovern noted.
“We currently rent here and know how much traffic there is,” she said.
