LEWISTON – Richard Pfeffer and his business partner Ed Stebbins learned an important lesson after opening their second Gritty McDuff’s brew pub, in Freeport.
Proceed with caution.
The 1995 expansion of the original Portland Old Port brew pub to Freeport nearly failed. Pfeffer, owner of the 17-year-old business, said it was close to bankruptcy, but managed to turn things around.
“We’ve moved cautiously because of that,” said Pfeffer to a crowd gathered Thursday for the monthly Chamber of Commerce breakfast at Bates College. “We don’t make decisions lightly.”
So it’s all the more impressive that the company will open its third location in Auburn’s Riverpark at the corner of Main and Court streets. The location won out over sites they considered in Newport, R.I.; Boston; Bangor and Camden.
“The No. 1 reason is because of this kind of crowd,” said Pfeffer as he gestured to the audience. “The enthusiasm here is phenomenal.”
Pfeffer was drawn to the area initially almost by accident. He was working on a kitchen repair in the Freeport pub and needed a power tool that was available in Lewiston. As he drove up Lisbon Street he saw all the construction under way at the gateway.
“I should take a look at this,” he recalled thinking.
He did, and found the community welcoming.
“You have a community that will say What can we do to help you?’ rather than No, you can’t do that,'” he said.
He and Stebbins took a long, hard look at space within the Bates Mill, but ultimately decided to go with the Auburn location because they thought it would be ready sooner, and because of its great visibility. Plans for the new brew pub call for encasing the street level floor in glass so passers-by can see the bright copper kettles of the brew house at work.
They also plan to build a deck overlooking the Androscoggin River that can accommodate 100 people.
“What a view,” he said, adding, as an aside, that there is still some cleanup work to be done on the river.
If all goes well, the pub should be open before the annual Great Falls Balloon Festival this August.
Pfeffer was gracious in his thanks to the many people who made the move to L-A an easy one. Although he opted not to open in Lewiston, he said he was grateful for all the time Bates Mill developers Tom Platz and Pat Maiorino gave him. He was equally complimentary of city staffs, economic development officials, and bank and real estate professionals.
And he touched on his company’s L-A roots. Pfeffer’s first job out of college was working as a stockbroker with a firm on Lisbon Street, and Stebbins’ grandfather was a key figure at Bates Mill.
Locating in Auburn renews that affinity for the area.
“People in Portland are kind of cynical about this area, or have been,” he said. “But eyes are opening in terms of what this community has to offer.”
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