This week the Buzz is expanding, skiing and not dining-and-dashing.
Valley Beverage, formerly known as Federal Distributors, is going in front of the Planning Board on Monday for permission to build a single-story, 23,612-square-foot addition at 2019 Lisbon St. in Lewiston.
“Our product line has expanded so much over the years that we’re putting on more space,” said Operations Manager Bill Fitch.
The beverage wholesaler needs room for storage, he said. The building is currently just over 76,000 square feet, according to city tax records.
Ideally, company officials would like to break ground in April and finish in August.
About 75 people work at that location. The name change happened in November, when Federal Distributors was bought by Valley Distributors of Oakland.
Spring break or bust
SnowPak, a 25-year-old everything-skiing-and-snowboarding website, named Sunday River Resort No. 5 on its list of the seven best ski resorts for spring break skiing in the U.S. and Canada.
The resort got props for “excellent late-season conditions” and the number of events it holds in the final month. Its third annual free outdoor Spring Apres Concert Series continues on March 24 (Fast Times, Darik and The Funbags) and April 14 (Lewiston-based Whiskey Militia).
Spokeswoman Darcy Lambert said Sunday River always aims to stay open until May 1, but beginning in mid-April, it becomes weather-dependent.
Hating this current deep cold jag we’re in? They’re not, up on the mountain.
“In terms of the snow that we have, the conditions are phenomenal,” she said.
Order, pay, repeat
In the aftermath of IHOP news earlier this month — when a waitress asked a table of teens to pre-pay for a meal because, she said, the restaurant had been burned by people walking out on their bills — the Sun Journal asked the Auburn Police Department how often that kind of dine-and-dash happens.
In short, it’s hard to say.
Deputy Chief Jason Moen said it’s up to a restaurant’s own policy whether they call and report it to police. When they do, it’s considered theft of service, but so is stealing cable or ducking out on cab fare. There’s no easily searchable walkout-specific code.
Running a system search for theft calls from restaurants in 2017, “which could be a walkout, employee theft, etc., we responded to 32 theft complaints to various restaurants throughout the city,” Moen said.
Denny’s accounted for 13 of the 32.
Enjoy your Moons Over My Hammy and then pay for it, for pete’s sake.
Something you can walk away from
The Maine Department of the Secretary of State is once again telling business owners to watch out for mail from the Maine Council of Corporations, which offers to compile your company’s “corporate consent records in lieu of meeting minutes” for $150.
The state requires no such filings.
A news release notes that MCOC’s form looks like the Division of Corporations’ annual report form, which is required, but that report form is nothing the Division of Corporations mails out to companies.
Any questions about the state’s filing requirements can be directed to the Maine Division of Corporations at 207-624-7752.
Quick hits about business comings, goings and happenings. Have a Buzzable tip? Contact staff writer Kathryn Skelton at 207-689-2844 or kskelton@sunjournal.com.
The former Federal Distributors on Lisbon Road in Lewiston is now Valley Beverage. On Monday, company officials will go in front of the Planning Board to ask for a 23,612-square-foot addition. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
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