Ocean State opens Bangor store

BANGOR – Ocean State Job Lot cut the red ribbon Thursday morning, celebrating the opening of a new branch at the Airport Mall on Union Street.

“We have had a big turnout and it’s only going to get better,” said Stacey Thompson, an employee at Ocean State who was assigned to greet customers as they walked in. “I’m the one with the biggest smile, so they put me at the door to say ‘Hi’ to people.”

The 84-chain retail store, based in Rhode Island, sells brand new products at closeout prices.

“Junk at a low prices is still junk,” CEO Marc Perlman said in a telephone interview. “We want to sell good stuff at a low price. We’re very confident.

“We’ve been successful in our other locations,” Perlman added. “We get along pretty well with people that like value. We’d like to give customers both the [quality] product they’re used to buying and the price they want.”

It didn’t take long for customers to enjoy shopping at the store.

“I like it,” customer Rick Clark said Thursday. “I wanted to check it out. They got a little bit of everything here. It’s quite a store. I came to work early just to check out the store and see what they had. Since I work nearby at the airport, I may stop by occasionally after work.”

Ocean State differentiates itself from other retail chains by continually randomizing the merchandise at each store, which carries more than 4,000 items. According to Thompson, the merchandise will change every week. That makes it refreshing and fun for employees and customers alike.

“This is more of an adventure [than most stores], and it really is,” said employee Arnold Splan, who stocks the store’s shelves. “It’s an adventure for the shoppers and it’s an adventure for the employees. For the most part we’re having fun. We’re trying to have fun.”

Customer Betty Rogers felt the same way.

“It’s very neat,” she said. “Lovely variety of merchandise. That’s the best part. This is very organized. I will come back here.”

The chain, which is expecting $360 million to $380 million in sales this year, has outlets in Maine, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. The Bangor location is its second outlet in Maine; the Belfast store opened in 2006.

“I think the response will be extremely favorable [in Bangor] because we’re not in business to fool people,” Perlman said. “I think they’ll be very pleased to have us in the community because it will give them an increase of choices.”

The Bangor store has been open since last Saturday, but the official grand opening was Thursday. WKSQ (KISS 94.5 FM) was on hand to broadcast live from noon to 2 p.m. There were also snacks and giveaways for customers, including a $200 shopping spree.

“So far so good,” Thompson said. “Everybody gets along. [The employees] are genuinely people people. It was badly needed in this area.”