Ames Farms Center in North Yarmouth, which John Ames II started in 1971, is now Blue Seal Feeds’ 11th store. Ames’ daughter, Jennifer Kimball, joined the operation in 1995. Alex Lear / The Forecaster

NORTH YARMOUTH — A staple in the center of town for farm and animal needs, Ames Farm Center this month assumed new management and a new name.

Although he will continue to own the property, John Ames II is retiring after 48 years running the family business. Blue Seal Feeds, a company with 11 stores in New England and New York, began leasing the 11,700-square-foot space Dec. 2.

An open house to mark the transition is scheduled from 1-3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11 at the 14 The Lane store.

When he started the business as a power equipment dealership in 1971 – based in part of what is now Stones Cafe & Bakery – Ames was stocking items in a building the size of a two-vehicle garage, according to a family press release. He collaborated with his recently retired father, Lt. Col. John Ames, to expand the company, and his daughter, Jennifer Ames Kimball, joined in 1995. Other family members, such as Kimball’s husband Todd, have lent a hand over the years, too.

“Jennifer is ready to do something else, and then I had some health issues, so it was time,” Ames said Dec. 19. And he recently turned 70, which felt like an appropriate retirement age.

“It’s involved a lot of thought,” Ames said. Blue Seal representatives had visited the store about two years ago, expressing a desire to open a branch in Buxton. Ames, looking to wind things down, offered them his store, and discussions ramped up this year.

Another factor in the decision to put the business in other hands, Kimball said, was that “it’s really hard to be an independent retailer in this economy. And to have corporate support and more buying power is really a good thing.”

This marks Blue Seal’s third location in Maine, after Bangor and Windham. Blue Seal is owned by the Kent Nutrition Group, which owns stores from the east coast to the Midwest.

“They’ve pretty much got national backing,” Ames said.

Ames’ offerings have included feed and supplies and feed for pets, livestock and horses; lawn and garden equipment; fencing; and bird and wildlife feed and supplies.

“That aisle right there is popular with the pets,” Ames said, pointing to a set of shelves with dog treats purposefully put toward the bottom, “so they can sniff their way along the aisle.”

“I’ve had customers come in with their dog,” Ames recalled with a smile. “And they say, ‘I’m kind of embarrassed. I really don’t need anything, but the dog went nuts when I tried to go by the end of (your) road.”

The new operation will remain pet-friendly, Mark Farrington – senior director of sales with Kent Nutrition – said Dec. 20.

“The business that the Ames family has built there really correlates well with our own company stores,” said Farrington, who has worked with the family during his 28 years with Blue Seal and praised its level of customer service.

North Yarmouth’s embracing of small businesses was attractive, too.

“We like the hometown feel, and want to continue what the Ames (family) has done,” Farrington said.

The new operation will keep much of the same staff – known for loading a customer’s car with their purchases while that person is still paying at the register – as well as some new faces. There will be the same product lines, along with new offerings, and delivery services will resume, Farrington said.

“It was the closest fit to what we were already doing,” Ames said.

“Even though they’re bigger corporations, they’re family-owned as well,” said John’s wife, Pam. “So it’s that same mindset of the customer being the priority.”

“Blue Seal shares a passion for animals – lifestyle animals, livestock, and pets,” she said in a press release. “It’s why they are the leading source for quality animal nutrition in the eastern U.S.”

John Ames has witnessed plenty of changes since opening his store. “There were commercial poultry houses in back of us,” and a field across the street was a cow pasture, he recalled. One could see livestock in any direction. Many homes have since then sprung up in the Village Center.

“There was a need here,” Ames said.

It’s a need longtime resident Jeanne Chadbourne has appreciated.

“Change is sometimes a little hard to accept, and to find out that Ames … was no longer going to be a part of North Yarmouth was certainly one of those moments,” she said. “They have been a part of the village center for many, many years and will be missed, just for who they were, in addition to the fine store they ran.”

While she is sure Blue Seal “will continue to meet the high expectations of the old store,” Chadbourne said, “there is something about a local family running a business in their town, serving folks in that town, greeted by name. It was so pleasantly familiar; that will be missed a lot.”

“I think I can speak for the majority of North Yamouth folks in saying ‘thank you’ to old John, young John, Jennifer, Todd and all the folks who have worked in the store for years,” Chadbourne said. “You are going to be missed.”