AUBURN – Shoppers longing for a mecca of domestic merchandise can toss their pillows in joy: Bed Bath & Beyond is coming to town.

The mega home furnishings and merchandise store expects to move into the former Service Merchandise space at the Auburn Plaza on Center Street.

“Yes, it’s true and we’re excited about it,” said Catherine Gentile, spokeswoman for the company. “We will be there sometime in early 2007.”

The building has been vacant since the spring of 1999 when Service Merchandise, the huge national catalog showroom store, closed. It remained empty until last year when about a quarter of the available space was taken by Dollar Tree, a national chain store where everything sells for $1.

Bed Bath & Beyond intends to occupy 20,000 square feet of space, according to building plans submitted to the Planning Department. Renovations are ongoing and extensive, including new floors, lights, walls and exterior work that will create the trademark Bed Bath & Beyond facade.

“Hopefully it won’t be too long before it’s ready for opening,” said Benson Hyde, a representative GFI Partners, which purchased the 260,000-square-foot strip mall in October 2003 from developer George Schott. GFI worked directly with Bed Bath & Beyond to land the lease.

Gentile said more details about the store will be revealed as it nears its opening. It is nationally known for its selection of bedding, home decor, towels, table linens, china, flatware, organizational accessories and gift ware.

In a survey conducted last December, more than 800 Sun Journal readers indicated their preferences for new retailers from a list of 100. Bed Bath & Beyond came in at No. 6.

Greg Mitchell, a development consultant with Eaton Peabody who works with Schott, said the addition of Bed Bath & Beyond continues to enhance the area’s retail options.

“I think everybody is concentrating on quality and trying to find the right mix of uses,” he said, noting the upcoming opening of Kohl’s department store and the recent announcement of Best Buy’s decision to open a store on Mt. Auburn Avenue. “With the price of gas, people are questioning the drive to South Portland or Augusta, especially if there are good products to buy locally.”

Bed Bath & Beyond had more than 800 stores at the beginning of 2006 and leases for another 56 stores it planned to open this year or next. The Auburn store would be the third in Maine; it has stores in South Portland and Bangor.

It is expanding nationally, continuing a trend that saw the chain grow from 34 stores in 1992 to 809 in 2005. It reported $1.7 billion in sales in February of this year.

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