RUMFORD – Peter Hatzis, a Medford, Mass., businessman, liked what he saw when he visited Rumford a few months ago.

As of June, he was the new owner of the art deco block on Congress Street, having purchased it from Jim and Hazel Buccina.

“I’ve got a feeling something good is going to happen in the town,” he said Tuesday.

He first visited Rumford when the Hotel Harris was up for sale. That beaux-arts building had been sold to John Roza of California just a couple of days before he arrived. So he set his sights on the block that houses Port-to-Port, American Home Health, Jarato’s Screen Printing, the River Valley Grill and Roberts Chiropractic.

Hatzis owns rental property in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. With the purchase of the art deco block, he’s venturing into retail for the first time.

All businesses, except one, will remain in the block.

Port-to-Port, a gift shop that has been doing business on Congress Street for 20 years, is in the process of moving to 232 Waldo St., beside Red Hill Natural Foods.

Carol Parise, co-owner of Port-to-Port, said that starting next week, both the 68 Congress St. and 232 Waldo St. stores will be open for business. Her and co-owner Bob Parise’s business must be out of the Congress Street location by the end of September.

Although the site on Waldo Street is smaller by about two-thirds, Parise said she plans to carry the same variety of gifts as she has in the downtown store, but in smaller amounts. She also plans to continue offering UPS service, and drop-off for Norway Laundry and Dry Cleaners.

Hatzis said he hopes to find an appropriate tenant for the Port-to-Port site soon after that business moves out.

This will be his first business venture in Maine.