County group buys four Irving stores

FORT KENT – Four of eight Irving Oil Corp. Mainway Convenience Stores in Aroostook County will be changing names soon, as soon as a name has been selected by the new owners.

A four-person corporation has purchased Irving outlets at Madawaska, Van Buren, Fort Fairfield and Bridgewater. The deal was sealed Sept. 27, but the price was not disclosed.

The corporation will maintain the nearly 40 full-time and part-time jobs at the four locations, according to Steve Daigle of Fort Kent, general manager of PPJS LLC.

PPJS LLC includes Daigle, Paul Berube of Fort Kent and two unnamed partners. The company name was developed from the first initial of the names of the four partners.

Telephone inquiries to Irving were not returned Wednesday.

“People won’t see many things changing,” Daigle said. “We will still sell Irving products, but the Mainway name will be removed.

“There will be improvements at some of the locations, but we don’t yet know what those will be,” he said. “We are still working on and accepting a new marketing name, a street name, for the locations.”

The sale or lease of Irving-owned convenience stores in Aroostook County had been talked about for much of the last year. The sale or lease of the sites would not be confirmed by company officials last November.

It was previously reported that managers of the sites would be offered leases, and the leases would be offered generally if they refused. Daigle, however, said Tuesday that their company purchased the four locations outright.

The familiar red, white and blue establishments will remain as they are, for the most part. Daigle said some changes could be made to increase street appeal of the sites.

“This will be good for everyone concerned, including customers and employees,” he said.

“We hope to keep all the same staffs that were at the locations before the sale,” he said. “We will have the same services and offerings.”

The sites at Madawaska, Van Buren and Fort Fairfield are located on the Main Street of each town. The Bridgewater facility is located on Route 1.