A new variety store and restaurant-nightclub have opened in Standish.

Lakeside Variety, which is located at 661 Whites Bridge Road on the Standish-Windham border, is operated by Lyn Carter, of Casco. The store, which opened May 20 and will close after Labor Day, is open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. daily.

“It’s a variety of summer needs,” she said. “I’ve got a lot of fishing supplies, camping, graham crackers, things for the s’mores.”

The store is located on the northern shore of the Sebago lake Basin, and is directly adjacent to the Sebago Lake Lodge & Cottages near Whites Bridge.

Food and drinks on sale at Lakeside Variety includes lobster rolls, crabmeat rolls, hot dogs, soda, water, Gatorade, iced tea, and ice cream bars. A crafter, Carter is also selling homemade placemats, dish towels, and bird feeders. Other items on sale include health and beauty aids, fleece blankets and pillows.

Carter is the former proprietor of the Lake Region Gift Shop, which operated during the summer of 2009 on Route 114 in Naples. She plans to run the tiny, one-room variety store on her own, she said.

“It gets me out in the public and I can do some of my crafts while I’m here,” she said. “I’m an outgoing person who likes to work with the public.”

Riffs Cafe? & Club, a restaurant and nightclub, is located at 35 Blake Road in the former Memory Lane Music Hall, which opened in 2004 and closed last year. The business, located just to the east of Standish Corner, is owned by Leslie Denbow, of Windham, a former Memory Lane employee who specializes in promotions. Denbow is working with Jim Paquette, the former owner of Memory Lane, in developing Riffs.

Paquette’s lease on the property expired in September, and Denbow began to rent the one-story, 7,500-square-foot facility the following month. Denbow, a former Radioshack franchise manager, decided to revive the space as a dual nightclub and restaurant.

“As just a nightclub I wasn’t sure if I could make enough money, but there was a demand for another full-serve restaurant in the area,” Denbow said. “So when I did the demographics and I did my business plan it just proved overwhelmingly to be so. With the two together, it was just a lot more viable. The two support each other. The town was looking for a restaurant and we were missing the entertainment that was here before, so I put the two together.”

The nightclub, which opened May 15, is open Thursdays through Saturdays from 9 p.m.-1 p.m. Every Thursday will feature a DJ playing dance music, while Fridays and Saturdays will feature bands for a $5 cover, according to Denbow.

“There’s anything from really good local rock to pop,” she said. “Then we have some really big tribute bands coming in.”

The club may eventually be opened up on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, as well, Denbow said. Meanwhile the restaurant, which will be open Tuesdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m, is expected to open soon.

“The food is kind of American comfort food,” she said. “It’s a little bit of every category but done really well, a lot of fresh ingredients and made from scratch.”

The restaurants will also serve brunch Sunday mornings. Until 9 p.m. every night, staff will close off the nightclub from the restaurant with dividers. At 9 p.m., the dividers will be removed, and food service will be moved to the bar, where wings, chicken fingers, fries, and onion rings will be served, Denbow said.

Denbow has hired 30 full and part-time employees, and is expecting to hire another 10 to 20 staff.

“I feel like we have just an incredible team of people,” she said. “It’s what I wanted. It’s the kind of place where people come in at the end of the day and they can chill and be happy and enjoy some good food and friends and get a drink. It’s fun. It’s just fun here.”

Town Manager Gordon Billington said he had toured Riffs and was left impressed.

“It’s come a long way since it was Country Crossroads and then Memory Lane,” Billington said. “It’s greatly remodeled inside.”

“I think it’s marvelous when businesses open up in Standish,” he added.

Leslie Denbow, the owner of Riffs Café & Club in Standish, and general manager Danika Denison, stand in front of the business, located at 35 Blake Road. The nightclub opened on May 15, while the restaurant is scheduled to open in early June.Lyn Carter, of Casco, opened Lakeside Variety on May 20. The store, located at 661 Whites Bridge Road in Standish, will be open every day until Labor Day.  Staff photos by Ezra Silk