PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Six months after purchasing the Aroostook Centre Mall, Dana Cassidy is focused on providing experiences to attract shoppers and making the building as functional and energy efficient as possible.
Since Cassidy took over the mall in June it has expanded from 16 stores to 21 and he anticipates at least five more stores will come in over the winter and next year. Cassidy said beyond expanding the number of stores, he wants the mall to provide memorable experiences to area people and serve their needs beyond shopping.
Among the new businesses coming in is an arcade, a 24-hour gym, a golf simulator, a laundromat and a trampoline park called Trampoline City.
“There’s already a lot of buzz around town about the gym,” said Jennifer Adrian, Omni Fitness wellness director. “People have been watching it as we have been putting it together.”
Adrian began her position at Omni Fitness as of Monday, Dec. 11 with a soft opening tentatively planned for the end of the week of Dec. 18, depending on when the rest of the gym equipment arrives. Its social media pages on Facebook and Instagram are currently being set up, along with the gym’s website.
In the food court a new pizza place recently opened called Mom & Me Pizzeria, which is owned by Melissa Valenza who also runs Crafter’s Creations, a space in the mall for local crafters to sell their work.
“Everything that we put [into the mall] and my intention is what I call homegrown,” said Cassidy, who owns the incoming gym, laundromat and trampoline park. “They are all local, the money is going to be spent here and then it’s going to be contained here.”
Outlaw Investments, which features a golf simulator, will provide another experience in the mall, along with Arcade Central, Omni Fitness 24/7 gym and Trampoline City. The Sudsie II laundromat is being constructed at this time.
Traditional stores have noticed the mall’s resurgence and become part of it. F & B Couture recently moved its men’s store from its Main Street location into the mall, along with some selection from its women’s store. The move began on Monday, Nov. 20 and it opened just in time for Black Friday.
Catholic Charities Thrift Store also had its opening day on Black Friday, after taking a couple of months to get everything set up in the mall.
Another one of Cassidy’s goals is to align store hours with each other in an effort to keep foot traffic in the mall.
Cassidy hopes that having more entrances into the mall space from businesses like Sudsie II and the new entrance that was put in at Omni Fitness will create more intersections for people to come check out other businesses.
Cassidy has also been making some changes to the lighting and working with Efficiency Maine on making updates to the mall’s heating to cut down on the cost of utilities. He is working with Efficiency Maine on updating the heating units on the mall’s roof.
Electrical modules with timers are being installed in each store to turn lights on and off to save on electricity, Cassidy said.
Last year, the light bill for the mall was around $1.3 million for the entire year coupled with using 50,000 gallons of propane, according to Cassidy.
“The [heating] units are antiquated, they are upwards of 30 years old and the efficiency pales in comparison to what the heat pumps are now,” Cassidy said.
