In 1913, Lamberto (Joe) Anicetti opened the Kennebec Fruit Company in Lisbon Falls. For the past three generations, the Anicetti family has continued to run the store. Currently, Frank Anicetti is the main fixture associated with the iconic store, located on the corner of Main Street and busy Route 126.
The only fruits and vegetables in the store might be found in the cooler, but they would be for Frank’s lunch, not for sale. While there is a lack of food staples for sale these days, the store offers everything Moxie — from T-shirts and hats, to stickers and baby jumpers and even several books about the iconic drink.
At this time of year, as the Moxie festival gears up, the store sees an uptick in business, but Anicetti says he’s nowhere near ready.
“The suppliers have been slow. I was supposed to have deliveries of soda, ice cream and T-shirts two weeks ago,” Anicetti tells a man who came to Maine on vacation, with a visit to Anicetti’s store high on the priority list. But Anicetti does have a new item: chocolate candy made with Moxie in limited supplies sitting in his cooler.
The dominant decoration in the store involves hundreds of Moxie bottles and cans arranged on shelves, display cases and counters. While the majority of them are filled, or were once filled, with Moxie, there are a number of Coke products along with a few unique brands mixed in among the many Moxie cans and bottles of every size and shape, in plastic, glass and aluminum. Adding to the color and cacophony are hanging planes, cars and figures made out of Moxie cans.
“It isn’t the same since they changed the recipe,” Frank tells another customer who drops in. “The diet Moxie tastes more like the original to me. I liked the old stuff better.”
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- Frank Anicetti’s mother and father, left, and the dentist who had a practice upstairs, pose for a photo in the 1930s in front of the Kennebec Fruit Company store.
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- Kennebec Fruit Company store owner Frank Anicetti shows off his famous pose — similar to one struck by a model used in early Moxie marketing — behind one of the counters at his store last week in Lisbon Falls.
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- Frank Anicetti strikes a pose in front of his Kennebec Fruit Company store.
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- A plane made from a Moxie can hangs from the ceiling next to a shelf of other collectables at the Kennebec Fruit Company in Lisbon Falls.
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- Nearly every inch of the Kennebec Fruit Company store in Lisbon Falls is filled.
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- Moxie chocolate candies, one of the newest items Frank Anicetti just received from a candy maker in Portland, will be available in limited quantities at his store.
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- A clock featuring Moxie’s iconic, finger-pointing model hangs on a wall at the Kennebec Fruit Company store, proving it’s always Moxie time.
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- Collectible bottles, a Moxie train car and other keepsakes sit in a small showcase at the Kennebec Fruit Company store.
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- One of several creative window displays at the Kennebec Fruit Company store in Lisbon Falls.
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- Twelve-packs of Moxie are stacked high, ready for sale, at the store.
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- Another window display at the Kennebec Fruit Company store.
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- Bottles of Moxie of various sizes, shapes and age are on display throughout “The Moxie Store.”
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