LEWISTON – Passersby who see the vacant storefront at 274 Lisbon St. and wonder what happened to Simones’ variety store needn’t look far for an answer.

About 40 steps should do it.

Simones Variety and Sandwich Shop moved two doors down Lisbon Street from its previous location. There’s no sign yet at the new 278 Lisbon St. address, but the regulars will recognize the staff and the offerings from the previous store.

“We’re used to our regulars’ routines,” said Linda Simones, who co-owns the business with her husband, Jimmy. “We’ve become part of their life, and they’ve become part of ours.”

The move was prompted by a rent increase at their previous address, but the Simones say the new store has been a blessing. Their new landlord is Propsys, which retrofitted the space in about a week and half.

“They were great to work with; they were willing to accommodate whatever we needed,” said Jimmy Simones.

The new space is slightly smaller than their old store, but has a wider expanse of windows and sunnier interior. The walls have been freshly painted and new tile floor laid down. The couple is still setting up the store, looking for a spot for a Victorian glass and oak display case and working the kinks out a new digital coffeemaker, but they’re excited about the new location.

“There are 42 apartments above us,” said Jimmy, referring to the Chestnut Place housing complex. “They can have their own little coffee hangout.”

There are several tables set up in front of one bank of windows for patrons to enjoy a cup of coffee or a sandwich. The rest of the space is used to display groceries and convenience items.

The new store is on the opposite side of the same block as the Simones’ flagship business, Simones’ Hot Dog Stand. The family branched out into the variety store business in 1997 when it took over Dick’s Variety.

Getting the new store ready has been a challenge. They closed the old location last Thursday, then moved much of the inventory over and reopened in the new location Friday morning. Friday night the couple attended a reception at Bates College where their daughter, Melissa, is a sophomore, then went right back to work.

“We left the reception about 8:30 p.m., then moved 100 cases of beer into the new store,” said Jimmy with a laugh. “It was a long, long weekend.”

When they knew a rent increase was imminent, they started looking for another Lisbon Street location and considered several alternatives before settling on this one. Jimmy Simones said it was interesting to see what attractive and affordable space was still available for tenants in the downtown. He said he expects the city’s southern gateway project likely will bring lots more people downtown.

“There’s great visibility here, lots of people walking on Lisbon Street already,” he said. “We like being a neighborhood store.”

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