The Woods Maine Shop, located at 400 Main St. in Norway’s historic Opera House building, offers apparel, bags and home goods, with an emphasis on Maine craftsmanship.
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With no retail experience and no investor funding, the owners of the Woods Maine Shop turned a self-funded luxury treehouse project in Norway into the foundation for a retail business, learning the industry as they went.
The Woods Maine Shop, located at 400 Main St. in Norway's historic Opera House building, offers apparel, bags and home goods, with an emphasis on Maine craftsmanship. The shop also sells original products developed under the Woods Maine name, as well as collaborations with brands including Sea Bags in Portland and ChappyWrap in Scarborough.
How the business started
The Woods Maine began with a luxury treehouse stay in Norway that Samantha and Rob Masabny self-funded. Designed by Pete Nelson, the property received national attention and provided the foundation for the couple to launch the retail store. They used capital from the treehouse project to build the Woods Maine store.
"We had no prior experience in retail or e-commerce and have learned much of it along the way," Samantha told Mainebiz.
At the time, both owners worked for a technology startup that has since grown into HubSpot. Samantha had experience in helping the business grow, while her husband brought a background in operations and finance.
The couple started by designing their own apparel and gradually expanded through collaborations and original products. They developed exclusive collections with Sea Bags and ChappyWrap and began building a home collection.
“We didn’t want to just be a store that carried other people’s products," said Samantha. "We wanted to build something that had its own point of view, our own designs, our own collaborations, and a curation that reflected who we are."
The Woods Maine was recently named the state's best gift shop by readers of Down East Magazine in the publication's 2026 Best of Maine poll.
The Woods Maine is open daily and ships nationwide from the storefront.
