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Reny's-vation: Store shapes up in retail hub
by David Carkhuff
The Portland Daily Sun
Scaffolding is up at the front of Portland's former Congress Street retail anchors, L.L. Bean and Olympia Sports, allowing a detailed and
historically accurate facade repair to the city's first Renys department store.
Look for more brute force to take place inside.
"This is extensive, it's probably as extensive as it gets", said Steve Flynn, owner of Flynn-Z Construction of Scarborough,
the company in charge of renovating the old L.L. Bean and Olympia Sports stores for the new tenant, Renys.
"All the walls between Olympia Sports and L.L. Bean, all of L.L. Bean's changing rooms are coming out, their back rooms,
some of their offices are coming out," Flynn said.
As testament to this massive alteration, a skid steer loader operated by Ed Benjamin of Falmouth scooted around inside,
tearing out walls and removing debris.
"There's more material coming out then going in," Flynn said.
Continuing ceiling, lighting and perimeter walls are the bulk of new construction for Renys, which plants to open there in April.
In November 2009, L.L. Bean announced plans to shut down its outlet store in downtown Portland, opting to concentrate on
its outlet store in Freeport, that news was followed by the announcement that neighboring Olympia Sports planned to close as well.
The closings prompted concern among city business leaders who worried about high-profile vacancies in the heart of
the arts district. Some officials even suggested short-term use of the display windows for art or performances to lessen impacts.
Instead, Renys 15th store will fill the side-by-side vacancies, prompting a large renovation effort.
"They're taking down all the interior partitions, all the old changing rooms...it's going to be wide open, all new
lighting, Energy Maine Efficiency," Flynn said.
An entrance for Olympia Sports on Congress Street will be converted into an emergency exit, he said.
"The building is very structurally sound, it's got a concrete deck for the roof and an 8-inch concrete floor,
we are going to build a loading dock that they can actually back a truck into here from Free Street," Flynn added.
While the interior work goes on largely behind the scenes, pedestrians on Congress Street have noticed the towering
scaffolding on the building's facade. An intricate restoration is part of the building's conversion. According to city
spokesperson Nicole Clegg, workers are undertaking a "comprehensive masonry repair to the facade that meets historic preservation standards."
"The facade hadn't been repaired in a number of years, and there had been some significant water damage, so we're
very happy that they're taking on these improvements," Clegg said.
Started by John Reny's father, Robert H. Reny in 1949, the Renys department store chain generally operated in
rural communities - Damariscotta, Bridgton, Gardiner, Farmington, Dexter, Madison, Pittsfield, Bath,
Camden, Saco, Belfast, Ellsworth and Wells.
Flynn said the company continues to expand - "We've got another one to do after this," he said,
although he declined to say where.
Flynn-Z Construction has handled Renys renovations elsewhere. "We've converted the Saco Shaw's into a
Renys, we've done work in Belfast, Bridgton, Ellsworth, Farmington, we put a three-stop elevator in Farmington's
stairwell. This isn't the first dance. They're great to work for, Renys are the best," Flynn said.
Flynn said Renys will be a good neighbor, based on how the company treats its contractors.
"They're Maine based, a little Yankee ingenuity and some normal thinking," he said.
Clegg said the store's arrival has stirred up anticipation.
"I think there's a lot of excitement for them to be downtown." she said.
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R.H. Reny, Inc.
731 Route 1
Newcastle, Maine 04553
Phone: (207)563-3177
Fax: (207)563-5681
E-Mail: feedback@renys.com
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