Ah, 2003.

50 Cent topped the Billboard charts; “Pirates of the Caribbean” packed the theaters. But if your favorite way to recreate was shopping, well, the local choices were scant at best.

Flash forward five years. A revived Auburn Mall opens Steve & Barry’s, its newest anchor store, next week. National chains like Kohl’s, Bed Bath & Beyond and Best Buy are hotbeds of local trade. Retail sales are up almost 12 percent over four years. That growth more than doubles Portland’s, almost doubles Augusta.

And if you need to refuel after all that shopping, well, the new restaurant options are dizzying.

Continuing the spin: 1 million square feet of potential new retail space in the wings.

Can the next five years match the previous?

Who knows. There are some serious brakes being applied to retail momentum (see related story).

But this year’s newcomers, like Fuel, Guthrie’s, Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli, Chick-A-Dee in Lewiston, T.G.I. Friday’s, Holly’s Own Deli and Wine Bar, L-A Coffee & Wine Bistro, Le Petit Cafe and Joker’s, are all adding to an increasingly rich retail mix.

“Both cities wanted to be full-service communities, with all the amenities, including retail options,” said Greg Mitchell, former Lewiston economic development chief and now a consultant with Eaton Peabody. “They made a conscious decision to secure retail and they’ve done that.”

The transformation – especially in Auburn’s Mt. Auburn area – was overdue, said Tom DeSimone, executive vice president of W/S Development, one of the largest retail developers in the Northeast.

“I’m not surprised,” he said. “You’re talking about a fairly underserved market at the time.”

 Once upon a time, Twin City shoppers had to grit their teeth as they turned the ignition key, driving to Portland or Augusta stores, where retail had a significant head start. Since 2003, the Mt. Auburn area has added $42 million in new development to the tax base; make it $62 million if you reach back to 2002 when the Wal-Mart Supercenter was added to the rolls.

A strong finish

DeSimone expects the success of the retailers who have taken the leap to Auburn will spawn even more activity.

“That corner, each incremental retailer that’s gone in there has done pretty well – these guys all talk to each other,” he said.

Exactly how well have they done?

Chad Clow, manager at Kohl’s, had wanted his store to be No. 1 among the 65 Kohl’s that opened in October 2006. Fourteen months later can he claim bragging rights?

“We can in many respects,” he said, noting that the store has continued to outperform projections. “Once you’re open, you’re ranked and graded on multiple levels. In many of those categories, we are No. 1.”

His counterpart at Best Buy, Darrin Porter, said the electronics super store has also performed better than corporate projections.

“Things have been going great; we are looking forward to a strong finish,” he said.

A strong end to 2007 is something George Schott can appreciate. The developer who jump-started the retail revival in Auburn sunk $25 million in upgrades to the Auburn Mall since buying it two years ago. A week ago he saw Super Shoes and Joker’s Family Entertainment Center open; within a week or so he’ll unveil Steve & Barry’s, the hip, trendy über-cheap apparel store.

“As far as the mall goes, 2007 has been fantastic,” he said.

Roland Miller, Auburn’s development guru, applauded Schott for his nerve and knack in bringing retail to the area, in particular, revitalizing the mall.

“… the whole investment strategy of the owner changed” when Schott bought it, said Miller. “It used to be part of a portfolio, with no urgency to reinvest.”

Despite a few setbacks – Schott’s negotiations with Olive Garden, Linens-N-Things and a tractor store didn’t pan out – the mall is nearly full. There’s no resting on his laurels … or the golf cart he tools around the mall in, restocking the soda machines.

“Of course we all wish for an Olive Garden,” he said.

Is he negotiating with them again?

“No, not at all.”

More in store

So what is ahead? For starters, neighbors for Kohl’s.

DeSimone said construction will start soon, likely spring, on two buildings on the right side of the property for a Famous Footwear and PETCO. A Famous spokeswoman said the shoe store should open summer 2009. A PETCO spokeswoman said that store’s lease hasn’t been signed yet.

DeSimone said he’s still in talks for development in the front parking lot, either a building with several tenants or two eateries.

But expect to keep seeing new retailers come to two of the three major markets – Portland, Augusta and Bangor – before opening here, he said. The Twin Cities may be booming compared to five years ago, but that pecking order hasn’t budged.

“I would be hard-pressed to tell you that’s going to change,” DeSimone said.

Case in point: After opening four cafes in Maine, the Panera Bread franchisee has finally put Auburn on its “love to be there” list.

“We have looked at a number of different opportunities in Auburn. Nothing’s ready to roll yet,” Mitchell Roberts said from his office just outside Boston. Some people have “visions of grandeur and think they’re in downtown Portland, and (we) haven’t gotten the rent to where we think they’re affordable.”

Those new, somewhat detested roundabouts mean the Turner Street area can handle 500,000 square feet more of retail, according to Miller – the equivalent of 1.5 Auburn Malls. Some possibilities:

• Craig Young at CBRE/Boulos is marketing three outparcels near the mall, smaller buildings for eateries like the always-desired Olive Garden, a bank or medical offices. And he’s shopping around a 40,000-square-foot parcel near T.G.I. Friday’s and Best Buy that was considered, then rejected, by Staples. Don’t expect construction until tenants are nailed down.

• Inside the Auburn Mall, Young expects upgrades, bringing more popular stores like The Limited and Abercrombie & Fitch into the lineup and losing some of the more ho-hum occupants.

• Schott is excavating for a hotel across the street from Longhorn Steakhouse. If that doesn’t fly, he’s confident he’ll find another tenant. Up the road he’s also bought two city-owned buildings near Gee & Bee Sporting Goods for possible offices or retail.

• The new development at 600 Turner has one tenant, Heidi’s Brooklyn Deli, open. Four more leases are in the works, according to Kevin Fletcher at Team Fletcher, Coldwell Banker Millett Realty. If those all happen, that strip center will be nearly 60 percent full. Fletcher said it’s Maine-based, not national chains, that seem interested.

“Talbots, Old Navy, they’re not looking at Auburn right now. I think the public would like to know that they’re not looking, but it’s not all doom and gloom,” he said. “My phone has not stopped ringing.”

Dan Thompson, who owns 600 Turner, has just bought the Roak Florist Mall on Center Street, said Fletcher, and plans to upgrade and refurbish it. He plans to market it to start-ups and smaller retailers attracted by the $8-to-$10-per-square-foot lease rates versus higher rates at the mall ($10-$16) or 600 Turner St. ($17-$24).

Ramping up

Over in Lewiston: Two words, Exit 80.

The city’s waiting to see construction drawings for the new Wal-Mart Supercenter this winter. Economic Chief Lincoln Jeffers expects ground to break in the spring.

“It’s imperative to get this first project at Exit 80,” he said. “It’s that first commitment, that first investment in the ground. I’m confident once it goes up” others will follow.

Plans call for two outparcels next to Wal-Mart, but developers aren’t working to line those up yet. Meanwhile, planning is under way at the second big parcel owned by Gendron and Gendron.

“There are no firm tenants I have spoken to yet,” Jeffers said. “I’ve seen drawings for over 250,000 to 300,000 square feet that can be put in over there. Dave (Gendron) has actively been talking to potential tenants.”

Exit 80 will be the spot for a big-box cluster, Jeffers said. Look for more regional and neighborhood-style development along Main and Sabattus streets. A couple times a year, he connects people interested in the old Shop ‘n Save at the corner of Sabattus and East Avenue with its owner; no deals have been struck yet.

And there’s speculation that if Lewiston wins the bidding war for a downtown Marriott, new retail there could follow in its wake.

For some readers who responded to a Sun Journal poll, more retail progress on that side of the river can’t come soon enough:

“Why do shoppers from Lewiston, Lisbon, Greene, Sabattus have to go to Auburn to buy a spool of thread and yarn? We miss our Ames and Bradlees. Give us a store! Wal-Mart? Target? Help!”