LEWISTON — Peter Ntarugera arrived to Lewiston from Rwanda in 2013 with only a backpack, no car, no clothes for winter and, even being able to speak seven languages, no firm grasp on how to navigate the massive Greyhound station.

“Which one are you going to take? There’s five, six buses parked there,” he said. “For the Salvation Army, do I take the Walmart one or the Lisbon (Street) one? You’re first in the middle of nowhere and you don’t know where to go.”

After they met, he told his future wife, Alexandrea, there had to be an easier way to buy clothes and shoes — without a car — for newly arriving immigrants or anyone living downtown.

“A few years later, the dream happens,” Ntarugera said.

The couple opened Lions last month, a new mostly secondhand store, at 220 Lisbon St. (His last name translates to “lion” in English.) They are still building inventory and awaiting outside signs, but for now have five prominent mannequins in the window, a man and four women, that are doing the job of drawing in customers.

“The last outfit that was on there, the lady came in, ‘How much is it?,'” said Ntarugera, pointing to one of the mannequins.

The top was $5, pants $5 and shoes $5.

“She’s like: ‘Take it all off. I want it,'” he said.

Alexandrea, who initially thought the mannequins were creepy, said that happens every few days, about as often as the window displays change.

It is a group effort to dress them between she and Peter’s two sisters, who help run the store.

“The sisters run circles around me — they clean it, put it together, tag it,” Alexandrea said. “This wouldn’t happen without them.”

They have priced 80% of the store at $5 or less, with shelves of jeans and racks of men’s and women’s work clothes, casual clothes and some formal wear.

“I spend most of my day looking for stores that are liquidating,” Alexandrea said.

A lot of merchandise comes in from California, and she inspects it for condition before hanging it out.

Peter Ntarugera bought the store’s fixtures, racks and baskets from the Rite Aid that closed in Norway.

Lions has a sizable section of hair extensions in browns, pinks, purples and blues, most priced at $6, and beginning two weeks ago has an in-house hair braider, Joel Mungin, who does braiding by appointment from an antique barber’s chair in front of one of the floor-to-ceiling windows.

“Believe it or not, little kids and older women, that’s where most of my clients are,” Mungin said. “A lot of them are going for blue and blond.”

The couple own and operate Lions Real Estate, which has several buildings in Lewiston-Auburn. Andrea said she sees tenants experience a lot of the same things her husband described when he arrived in Lewiston.

“Our biggest thing is our tenants don’t have jackets and things, and that’s why I was behind him on this,” she said. “They don’t know about any of the secondhand stores, where they are, how to get to them.

“I spend the first month with a newcomer telling them how to get there, where to go, how to buy food, that you can freeze food and it lasts months — stuff like that. Not to mix cleaning products.”

She is proud her husband wants to be a community resource.

“She’s my backbone,” he said. “She’s the one who pushes me.”

Lions is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week. The owners’ young daughters can often be seen at the store.

“They say every day when I pick them up from preschool, ‘We’re going to go shopping!'” Alexandrea said.

Working is a recurring Sun Journal feature that profiles people on the job in the community. If you have someone you would like to suggest, contact writer Kathryn Skelton at kskelton@sunjournal.com or (207) 689-2844.

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Maine insurers lower rate requests for Affordable Care Act coverage

Next »

Nancy Chaney earns certification