PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — After more than 20 years of operating Haney’s Home*Farm*Garden, formerly known as Haney’s Building Specialties, in Caribou, Troy Haney is adding the new Presque Isle Garden Center to his business line-up.
On Friday, May 1, Haney opened the Presque Isle Garden Center in what was previously the garden center at the former Kmart location, part of the Aroostook Centre Mall.
The business sells fruit trees, shrubs, perennial and annual plants and animal feed as well as garden tools, mulch, fertilizers, pots and seeds. Haney is partnering with the Presque Isle-based Aroostook Milling to sell their animal feed products.
The Presque Isle Garden Center comes at the heels of a recent expansion of Haney’s Home*Farm*Garden in Caribou. Haney began the latter business in 1999 in an 800-square-foot building next to Reno’s Family Restaurant, and moved services to the current location on 236 Van Buren Road in 2000.
Over the years, the business has grown from just a few employees to almost 20, who work in areas such as home design, lawn and garden and hardware services.
Haney said that while the Caribou store sees many customers from the northern areas of central Aroostook and the St. John Valley, he saw the new garden center as an opportunity to grow relationships with customers in the Presque Isle region.
“The mall is a great location for us,” Haney said. “As we’ve gotten closer to opening, the positive responses from people have been overwhelming. People like that we’re locally owned.”
Though the Presque Isle Garden Center’s opening coincides with ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, Haney noted that his business will remain open, but customers must observe social distancing guidelines. With many of the garden products situated outside, he doesn’t expect major problems in customers keeping their distance from each other.
The inside retail portion of the garden center will also include a handwashing station.
Haney is encouraging people to stop by the Presque Isle Garden Center and begin their garden planting now that spring is well underway.
“People have said they like that we have local products that they can’t buy at the big box stores,” Haney said.
