Retailer’s first store in Maine will be built near Wal-Mart
AUBURN – The first Lowe’s in the state of Maine will be built on Mount Auburn Avenue next to Wal-Mart, the most recent addition to the city’s growing retail center.
Lowe’s, a home improvement warehouse retailer, announced Wednesday its plans to open a 150,000-square-foot facility. The $16.5 million project will be built adjacent to the Wal-Mart Supercenter on a parcel that has already been cleared, graded and approved for development. It should open before the end of this year.
“This is great news,” said Lee Feldman, director of planning and permitting for the city ,who worked with developers on the project for the past year. “Once you get a Lowe’s, it becomes a major attractor for other retailers.”
Dick Gleason, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Regional Image Committee, also welcomed the news. The committee has made attracting new retailers a priority. Gleason said Lowe’s decision to locate here is an indicator of future good news.
“For Lowe’s to choose us means our market is ripe for other national type stores,” said Gleason. “That’s the most important thing.”
The North Carolina-based retailer is in the midst of an aggressive growth spurt. There are already 950 stores in 45 states, with 140 new stores planned for this year and 150 for 2005. While the company said the Auburn store would be its first in Maine, another Lowe’s is being planned for Brunswick, in the former Ames Department Store at Cook’s Corner. If built, that store would be just a few miles from a new Home Depot in Topsham.
Jennifer Stanbery Smith, a spokeswoman for Lowe’s, said the retailer doesn’t disclose the specific reasons behind choosing a new site.
“There are 400 some factors the team evaluates when looking at a prospective site,” said Smith. The factors include population growth, percent of home ownership and access to thoroughfares.
Feldman said Lowe’s began looking at sites in Auburn about a year ago before deciding the Mount Auburn Avenue location made the most sense. Konover Development Corp., owner of the Lowe’s parcel, was also the developer who brought the Wal-Mart Supercenter to town. When that project was originally approved, it included an additional 160,000-square-foot pad site for another store.
The retailer will offer 40,000 products for home improvement and decorating, including home furnishings, appliances and building materials. A 31,000-square-foot garden center will be attached to the 116,000-square-foot main building. Access will be from Mount Auburn Avenue and Turner Street.
The store will provide about 175 jobs, three-quarters of which are full time; all include benefits. The city is not providing any incentives to the retailer, said Feldman.
Lowe’s will be within a stone’s throw of competitor Home Depot, but Smith said that’s not a problem. About 75 percent of Lowe’s stores are within a 10-mile radius of its biggest competitor.
“Our focus is on our customer, not our competitor,” said Smith. She said Lowe’s has a reputation for marketing to women and designs its stores accordingly with a showcase atmosphere, rather than a warehouse design. She said it prides itself on offering products in all price ranges and decorating styles.
The city has been marketing the Mount Auburn Avenue area to retailers for some time.
“We get inquiries every day,” said Feldman.
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