WESTBROOK – Westbrook’s downtown used to be home to a number of small retail shops, including clothiers, barber shops and hardware stores. After the urban renewal movement of the 1970s, the downtown area has rebounded slowly, with small businesses moving in here and there. Hope for a new development at the former Maine Rubber plant has sparked belief that the downtown may be on the verge of new development.
One of the area’s newest businesses is seasonal activewear clothing store Northeast Apparel Outlet (www.northeastappareloutlet.com), at 863 Main St. Owner Steve LeSueur, 31, said the shop is independently owned, and offers clothing such as fleecewear, jackets and accessories by a number of name brands. He opened the shop in November 2011.
A self-described “Air Force brat,” he spent much of his childhood in many different places all over the country, as far west as California and as far south as Tennessee, but has called Portland home for the past 10 years. This week, LeSueur talked about the downtown area and his new place in it.
Q: What made you decide to set up shop in Westbrook?
A: That’s probably the No. 1 question we are asked by customers, relatives and other local businesses. Westbrook has a lot of character, history and potential, which made it appealing to us. Its proximity to other larger towns and to Portland gave it the visibility we wanted. The key was to create the awareness of what we sell and where we are. The owners of the retail spaces have made it very affordable to take the risk in a town that hasn’t had this type of retail business in a very long time.
Q: It’s been a while since a retail clothing store was open on this section of Main Street. Do you think you’re getting in on an untapped market?
A: If you follow the current U.S. trend, consignment shops and discount outlets are seeing higher traffic than most department stores. Online companies have proven to be able to pull the average consumer and turn them in to a tech-savvy consumer, willing to purchase online and have the product shipped to their home. We have taken those two key elements of the “today consumer” with our online pricing and in-store products. We call this “Store 3.0.” Store 1.0 began with traditional brick-and-mortar stores; Store 2.0, online sales, challenged that model, but combining the benefits of both will create true success in the future of retail.
Q: You’re in an area with a number of different businesses all around you. Do you find that attracts business to your shop?
A: Westbrook has a unique walking traffic pattern. Local residents, local employees, local diners, out-of-town diners and some retail shoppers make up the majority of the crowds we see through our front windows facing Main Street. We have some great front window displays that capture their attention. Slowly but surely, curiosity has been setting in and people are walking in to see what we offer. Yes, these other area businesses help tremendously.
Q: City officials have talked for some time about improving the downtown area to promote local business. What do you think the area needs?
A: Westbrook has some great restaurants such as Frog and Turtle, which sits beside us, as well as multiple nearby employers. This town needs a reason for these patrons and employees to spend money in the local economy. I think retail spaces offering reasons to shop locally is just the beginning. This town can turn into the “Local Maine Business” section of the state. Downtown Portland and downtown Westbrook could be the two tourist destinations for summer vacationers. Smaller retailers should take this opportunity while rent is low in this area. As more businesses start to see the savings of having retail space in Westbrook, the more they will fill the streets: art studios, Maine-made shops, local contractor offices, clothing stores, $1 stores, seasonal shops, museums, technology services and web design, fitness centers and organic grocers only scratch the surface of the types of businesses that would thrive here. The key to this town is low overhead, great value and quality products.
Q: Some experts have suggested that the trend that took shoppers away from local shops to big-box retailers may be reversing. What do you think a local clothing store can offer that allows it to compete with nearby large-scale retail department stores?
A: Size, versatility and agility. We are small enough to make rapid changes to evolve along with consumers’ demands. We can keep lower margins due to lower overhead. Circuit City went bankrupt because they couldn’t evolve quickly enough with the changing market. Best Buy is struggling to stay afloat. Walmart has had quarterly losses for over a year. Enormous “big-box” stores have a lot of extra weight to move, change, reduce and sell. We can be nimble in our buying decisions, price strategies and marketing/advertising campaigns. Keep in mind, the large retailers have used the staying in the “red” to hopefully be in the “black” strategy for years. That’s not going to work anymore in this economy or technology consumer climate.
Q: Do you expect more retail stores to move into the downtown area in the future?
A: We absolutely encourage retailers to move here. The more dynamic the retailers are in downtown Westbrook, the better it will be for all of us. Westbrook’s Rudy Vallee Square is a gem that has been hidden for a long time and it’s time to let it shine again.
“The more dynamic the retailers are in downtown Westbrook, the
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