Lowe’s plans Oct. 17 opening at superstore in Presque Isle

PRESQUE ISLE – With construction nearly 95 percent complete, a Lowe’s official confirmed Tuesday that the chain’s newest location – a 147,000-square-foot superstore on Maysville Street – will open its doors to the public on Oct. 17.

Rodney Wohlford, Lowe’s store manager, said grand opening festivities will be held Oct. 19.

“It feels great for us to actually get started setting up the store and in a little longer than a month to start selling merchandise to people,” Wohlford said Tuesday.

Wohlford said the store, which employees will start stocking with more than 32,000 items as soon as next week, features 102,000 square feet of retail space and an adjacent 23,000-square-foot garden center with plants “tailored” to Maine climate and lifestyle. Wohlford said employees will begin setting up racks next week when the building contractor is expected to hand over the keys to the facility.

“There’s going to be a wow factor when people walk in there, especially people who have never seen a Lowe’s before,” Wohlford said. “There will be four whole aisles of lighting fixtures. The selection is going to be amazing when people see it, what’s right there in the building.”

Wohlford said the warehouse-style interior will feature lots of shelves and displays, “little departments” within store departments, and organized, well-marked spaces so that “if you’re looking for appliances or nuts and bolts, you’ll see them right away and can walk straight there.”

Officials said a store of this size represents an average investment of about $12 million and creates more than 120 new jobs.

Wohlford said that about 125 employees have been hired so far. He estimated that the store will have a total of 125 to 140 full- and part-time workers. He said 95 percent of employees, including management, are from Aroostook County.

Lowe’s Companies Inc., which had sales of $43.2 billion in fiscal year 2005, has 1,275 home improvement stores in 49 states. Based in Mooresville, N.C., the 60-year-old company is the second-largest home improvement retailer in the world. The company has four stores in Maine, in Auburn, Brunswick, North Windham and Portland, and two opening soon, in Biddeford and Presque Isle.

Wohlford said that as the store’s big day nears, officials are looking for ways to get more involved in the community. The store recently donated $5,000 in materials to the Aroostook County Habitat for Humanity project in Fort Fairfield. Wohlford said officials are working on other projects that could be done in conjunction with the grand opening.

“Everybody we’ve come in contact with, you can definitely tell that the closer we get, the more excited people are getting and the more they want to find out what Lowe’s is all about,” Wohlford said.