Millinocket Wreath Factory store to expand

MILLINOCKET – Give Jerri Cohen twigs and she’ll make art. Give her time and she’ll turn art into business.

The Millinocket woman is about to buy a three-story building at 135-137 Penobscot Ave. to expand her Wreath Factory store.

She is buying the property from Bangor Savings Bank for $21,500, plus $2,000 in liens.

The top two floors will be for manufacturing; the bottom floor will be a showroom; and the basement will be a shipping area. The closing should occur by Sept. 21.

“This is my retirement business,” Cohen, 52, joked Wednesday. “I work harder now in retirement than I ever did before.

“Most people,” she added, “do it the other way around. They go to Florida to retire. I came here [to Maine] from Florida to retire.”

Cohen and two employees, plus eight independent contractors, make wreaths from the twigs of beech, birch, cherry, evergreen, red dogwood, sweet fern and teaberry trees. About 1,000 wreaths are on display at her store at 102 Penobscot Ave.

With about 2,000 wholesale and retail customers nationwide, Cohen’s business has expanded steadily since she moved from Howland in late December 2006, she said. Cohen moved to Millinocket to be closer to home and as part of the aftermath of a series of thefts by a former employee, she said.

“I was tired of the commute and I needed a change,” Cohen said.

With the building purchase, Cohen expects she will triple the number of independent contractors she uses in a year – good news in the Katahdin region, which typically has unemployment twice the state average and about half its population at or below the poverty line.

“I want to go to the high schools and see if I can get more workers,” Cohen said. “Millinocket has nothing for kids to do to make money. I think this is exactly what the kids need.”

Derric McLain, 22, of Millinocket came looking for a job on Wednesday.

“I am temporarily out of work, so this seems like a good idea,” McLain said, explaining that his father owns land in Medway that he can harvest.

Cohen pays $10 per bundle of leafless twigs during harvesting season, which is typically November to April. The twigs are the very thin last few feet of tree limb, and harvesters must have permission or a permit from landowners or Cohen won’t accept their offerings, she said.

She pays independent contractors who make wreaths for her $4 to $9 per wreath, depending on the size and twigs used, Cohen said. Cohen also will embellish a basic wreath’s design to add flair and value. Her wreaths sell for $14.99 to $69.99.

Contractors and harvesters can earn $300 to $400 a week for their efforts, a modest but steady income that often attracts housewives, teenagers, students or others looking for part-time work, she said.

“One guy got $700 one week,” she said.

Town Manager Eugene Conlogue was heartened by Cohen’s success.

“It’s a great opportunity for her and it shows that she has confidence in Millinocket,” Conlogue said Wednesday.

She is in discussions with a florist to share space in her new building, which will likely need extensive renovation, she and Conlogue said.