Windham Renys the next “sweet spot”
Photo / Renys
The Windham Shopping Mall located on Route 302 the mall will be home to the 17th Renys Department Store location.
WINDHAM — Renys, the family-owned discount department store, leased 27,000 square feet of corner space in the Windham Mall, on Route 302, for its 17th store.
The company is investing $750,000 to renovate the space, with an additional undisclosed amount put in by the mall’s landlord. The space was previously occupied by Big Lots and, partially, Summit Adventures (which has consolidated its space within the mall).
Renys most recently opened stores in Portland and Topsham in 2011. The Windham store is expected to open by mid-April, said John Reny, the company’s president.
Windham was the company’s next obvious “sweet spot,” said Reny.
“We’ve had a store in Bridgton...for probably 63 years,” he said, speaking of the town about 30 miles to the north. “At first, we thought this would be a little too close to Bridgton. But we started thinking about it after Big Lots” closed the location in early 2014. “We weren’t anxious to open a new store that year, but the more we looked at it, we thought it was a good place for us. There’s lots of tourist traffic in that area — lots of traffic, period,” thanks to the presence of eateries, Hannaford, a cinema and other attractions.
The location builds on the proven siting of the Topsham store, which is similarly located amidst other major stores.
“We’ve done extremely well there — the little guy amongst the big guys,” Reny said. “People are already there, so we have that traffic.”
Founded in Damariscotta in 1949 by Reny’s father, Robert H. “R.H.” Reny, the first winter was so slow that in order to keep the store open, R.H. had to go door to door around the area selling merchandise out of his old Hudson.
“He was from Biddeford and had moved to Damariscotta,” Reny said. “Back then, that meant you were from away. And he was Catholic, which was not great around there.”
So when R.H. started the store, people didn’t know him. But he won over the community during his door-to-door jaunts.
“He had a great gift of gab,” Reny said. “He said, ‘I drank a lot of coffee and ate a lot of pie and made a lot of friends.’” When spring rolled around, “People went to see him at the store because he’d gone to see them.”
From the outset, the company was designed to buy quality merchandise at a discount and pass those savings on to customers, rather than buy inexpensive merchandise to sell at inexpensive prices.
“I don’t think there’s anything like us that carries the breadth of merchandise we do, from name brands to off-price goods, from closeouts to domestic goods, clothes, toys and seasonal items,” said Reny. “We look for quality labels that we can buy at a deal and sell cheaper than everyone else. And we know our customers. We don’t sit here and look at reports. We’re in the stores, talking with customers. We know when Mrs. McGillicuddy comes in and sees something, and says, ‘This is so cute’— you figure out what your customers really want.”
Today, locations include two in Damariscotta, and one each in Bridgton, Gardiner, Farmington, Dexter, Madison, Pittsfield, Bath, Camden, Belfast, Ellsworth, Wells, Saco, Portland and Topsham, plus an office/warehouse complex in Newcastle. The company’s buyers travel to Boston, New York, Atlantic City, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Chicago and elsewhere to find top merchandise at low prices.
Renovations at the new site are underway now. They include taking down walls that separated back rooms from the front, in order to make one large space while also keeping a freight room, a revamped office area and employee lounge. Bathrooms are getting an overhaul and being made handicap-accessible. New ceilings, flooring and LED lighting are being put in. The entrance is being reconfigured, from two doors to one, with an outside canopy installed over the sidewalk to protect people from rain and snow.
“When we do a new store, we do it up right,” Reny said. “We get one chance to make a good first impression.”
Construction is on schedule, and the store’s crew, of 40 to 50 full-time and part-time employees, will be hired, adding to the chain’s complement of more than 500 employees across the state, said Reny.
The company is considering opening another outlet in 2017, with locations still under consideration, said Reny. The company is often solicited, by both real estate agents and consumers, to open a store in their area, he said.
“We’re very appreciative of that, but we’ve got to do what’s right for us,” he said. While requests weigh somewhat in the decision, primary factors include adequate property size and high-volume traffic potential.
“We’ve got a pretty good ideas of places that are best for us,” he said, adding, “I think Windham will be a really hot spot.”
Read more
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments