One store owner says Main Street is in transition, but this is a good thing.
By Gail Geraghty
Staff Writer

NORWAY – A change in ownership of the Norway Opera House is breathing new life into its long-vacant commercial storefronts.

Leases have been signed with Heads and Tails, a taxidermist; Pick-A-Lily, a clothing emporium; and Antique Revival, an antique store, to occupy four out of the five commercial spaces.

Only the former Colonial Coffee Shoppe space remains to be filled, and Opera House owner Barry Mazzaglia is very interested in seeing the coffee shop reopen, according to Realtor Bob Bizier.

“We’ve got two or three very interested parties,” Bizier said. “Everyone seems to be very interested in getting that going,” he said of the coffee shop.

Heads and Tails opened in the Opera House about a month ago. Pick-A-Lily opened Tuesday, after relocating from its longtime location further up on Main Street, in the former Verenis Market building.

“Our goal from the beginning was to be in the Norway Opera House. How grand is that?” said an excited Shallon Tripp, who co-owns the business with Lita Balkir. The pair are renting two spaces – the former Hutchins Jewelers and the space next door – which have been combined into one via a passageway in the rear.

At the same time, the future of several downtown commercial spaces is uncertain. Bob Swift, owner of the building once leased by Pick-A-Lily, said he has a buyer for the building. The deal hasn’t closed yet, however, and Swift does not know what use the new owners plan to make of the building.

Aubuchon Hardware, a fixture on Main Street for decades, will be moving Monday to the former Swan Supply hardware store on lower Main Street.

Maine Discoveries has already vacated its Main Street store adjacent to New Balance Athletic Footwear. An announcement is expected soon on a new tenant for the space, owned by the Growth Council of Oxford Hills.

“I think Main Street is in transition, but I think it is going to be in a good place,” said Tripp.

Bizier said the former owner of the Opera House kept the commercial spaces vacant because the roof leaked. Mazzaglia had planned to repair the roof until wind storms blew in, followed by an early winter blizzard. Mazzaglia has put tarps up around the area where the roof work had begun to protect the tenants, Bizier said.

Richard Auclair, owner of Antique Revival, has operated a successful antique store for many years out of a large barn on the corner of routes 35 and 302 in Naples. Auclair has already packed the Opera House store full of antiques, and plans to open in two or three weeks.

“I like nice things,” Auclair said. “We try to have something for everyone because we know some people can’t afford to spend a lot.”

Mazzaglia also purchased the Thayer Block at Market Square on Main Street in Paris. No plans for the space have been announced.