Paychex was the first office tenant at Lewiston’s former Promenade Mall. According to a real estate report, the mall is now called Gendron Place. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
This week the Buzz has breaking Dunkin’ Donuts news and we’re saying goodbye to the Promenade Mall (in name only).
Franchise owner Norm Boulay recently reopened the Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru at 319 Main St. in Lewiston after a major, four-month rebuild and said Thursday he has more plans for 2018.
Namely, knocking the whole building down.
The work that officially wrapped this week was just phase 1, Boulay said. It included building a 12- by 40-foot retaining wall under the drive-thru where a platform or bridge had been built 35 years ago by Boulay’s father to hold up the pavement for the drive-thru.
“Dunkin’ told him he was insane at the time, but he did it anyway because he used to be a builder for McDonald’s,” Boulay said. “He said, ‘Well, they can sell hamburgers, why can’t we sell coffee?’ This was the first or second drive-thru for Dunkin’s company. We took the bridge completely out, we put in retaining walls and filled it all in so now it’s just on solid ground.”
Later this year, he’ll tear down the old building and start anew.
“We’re just waiting on Dunkin’ Donuts’ new concept design to be approved, then we’ll probably be one of the first ones with the new design,” he said.
While it’s out of commission, he also owns the Dunkin’ on Main Street one mile up the road.
Formerly known as …
The 2018 Greater Portland Market Outlook released last week by CBRE/The Boulos Co. included Lewiston-Auburn observations by Associate Broker Tim Millett.
Millett wrote that it was a good year for the industrial sector with lots of lease activity and that he expects to see new industrial and multi-family housing construction in 2018.
He also included this:
“The Promenade Mall, now known as Gendron Place, acquired its first office tenant, Paychex, and looks to continue repurposing efforts into 2018.”
Roadside signs haven’t changed, so it’s interesting to know it’s now known as Gendron Place. Developer Dave Gendron’s MRE LLC bought the mall for $4 million in 2016.
A tale of two mattresses
And last, not two months ago, a survey by Best Mattress Brand found Maine was the second-most punctual state in the country when it came to getting to work on time.
Now, according to a new survey by the mattress review site Mattress Clarity, not only are Mainers “among the least punctual in the nation” — hang on to your Dunkaccinos for this — said tardiness is costing the Maine economy $52 million a year.
(They say the average Maine worker is a total of 7.3 minutes late to work each week and assign an $85 annual per person cost to that.)
That’s a pretty wild swing: We’re either awesomely timely or $52-million-dollar lollygaggers.
Food for thought on a Friday.
The Buzz has been corrected to reflect that Dave Gendron bought the Promenade Mall in 2016.
Quick hits about business comings, goings and happenings. Have a Buzzable tip? Contact staff writer Kathryn Skelton at 689-2844 or kskelton@sunjournal.com.
Paychex was the first office tenant at Lewiston’s former Promenade Mall. According to a real estate report, the mall is now called Gendron Place. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
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