“I’ve been waiting for it to open,” Paradis said. She like many in Biddeford and the surrounding area have been anxiously awaiting the opening of the discount retail store Ocean State Job Lot since it was announced late last year that the chain had purchased and would be moving into the 510 Alfred St. site.
The Biddeford store is the seventh store the company has opened in Maine.
“We are an opportunity driven company,” said Evan Portno, director of Store Development. “When Shaw’s closed and then this site came up for auction we took a long look at this site and thought it would be a great location for us in a market we are currently not in that is close to a large city with good highway access and with existing strong retail. We are proud to join a beautiful and vibrant community.”
The company also has a Sanford location, which opened several years ago, so many in the area are familiar with the store.
“I go there two or three times a month,” Joyce Cobbett of Springvale said. But she said she’s just as happy to frequent the Biddeford location, which is on her way on her frequent treks to Portland. Cobbett said she likes the store because “you find a lot of things a lot cheaper.”
Maureen Pelletier also of Springvale stopped at the Biddeford location on Thursday.
“I shopped in Sanford two days ago and saw more things I wanted and came here,” she said.
She said she especially likes shopping for food at Ocean State and can find some items there for half the price they sell for elsewhere.
Mary Jane Russo and her husband Paul of Biddeford said they were happy to see an Ocean State store open in their city. They said they had visited the Sanford store and have known about the company for many years as they are formerly from Rhode IsIand — the company is based in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.
“It’s nice to see more businesses in town,” Mary Jane Russo said.
“It’s a nice use of the building,” Paul Russo said. The Biddeford location is the site of a former Shaw’s supermarket that closed in 2015 and has been vacant ever since.
Biddeford’ Economic & Community Development Director Mathew Eddy echoed those sentiments.
“We’re real excited to have them there and we’re real excited to have someone in that space,” he said.
“Ocean State is a really interesting store,” Eddy said. “They’re a nice quality at a reasonable price.”
“They’re like a dollar store on steroids,” he said.
“I think it really fills the market needs of our population,” Eddy said, and added “It’s one of my wife’s favorite stores.”
The company purchased the Biddeford location on Oct. 24 and paid $3.925 million for the 8.45-acre site which includes a 55,900-square foot building. The store takes up 40,000 square feet. The company plans to lease the additional space.
Forty-one full- and part-time employees total have been hired.
Ocean State Job Lot was founded 40 years ago and has locations throughout New England, New Jersey and New York. It has about 5,000 employees company-wide and annual sales exceed $650 million, according to an Ocean State press release. “The company was named by Forbes Magazine as a 2017 ‘Best Midsize Employer,’” according to the release.
The reason for the company’s success, said Regional Director Leslis Gouveia, is that “the ingredients don’t change from one Ocean State Job Lot store to the next. We now have 131 stores across the Northeast, and each and every one is focused on providing tremendous value to our customers in a friendly and helpful atmosphere that makes customers want to keep coming back. If you haven’t shopped an Ocean State Job Lot, you might not realize all the brand names we carry — and at the fraction of the cost you’ll find elsewhere. We’re excited to be in Biddeford now. We can’t wait to meet all our new customers and showcase for them all that we have to offer.”
Doors open at 8 a.m. on Saturday. As part of the grand opening ceremony there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 a.m., which will be attended by city and other dignitaries. There will be a presentation to the Ocean State Job Lot Charitable Foundation’s “Close to Our Heart” recipient, the Biddeford Food Pantry, of $500, as well as a donation of a pallet of non-perishable food valued at $1,000. In addition, more donations will be made to other local charities.
— Associate Editor Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324, or dmendros@journaltribune.com.
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