The company’s general manager says he hopes another site can be found for the store.
By Jim Smedley
Staff Writer

PARIS – On Aug. 31, Bob’s Discount will be closing the doors at its present location in the Cornwall Shopping Center in South Paris

“We have enjoyed the market and enjoyed being in the area, but the lease is now terminated and the physical conditions of the building are not up to our standards,” said Barry Vaill, general manager for the corporation.

Bob’s Discount, as the name implies, carries discounted items including housewares, tools, toys and some food. It also has a furniture and mattress section.

The store opened at its present location on June 12, 1998, and expanded two years ago to accommodate the furniture and mattress sales division.

“Our buildings have to be pleasant to look at in the front, and we want them to be bright and cheery and have good lighting with highly polished floors,” Vaill said. “Our trademark is having clean, neat and happy stores.”

Bob’s Discount is owned by Bob and Eileen Dinan. Their corporate office is in Lewiston and they have eight stores in Maine and Rhode Island.

Vaill said the Paris store employed about eight people.

He said the Bob’s chain is as strong financially as ever and that the store certainly is not going out of business.

In fact, he hopes another location can be found for Bob’s Discount in the Oxford Hills area.

“I love the market. It’s a delightful place to do business,” Vaill said. “But, we had no alternatives other than to do what what we’re doing. We asked them to do certain things, which led to the termination of the lease.”

He said he has had conversations with Barb Olson, vice president of the Oxford Hills Growth Council, about finding another location for the store in the Oxford Hills area.

Olson, who said she learned about the move on Wednesday, said there are options available for the store.

“We’re just waiting to hear from them,” Vaill said.

The building is owned by M.H. Parsons & Sons Lumber Co. of York.