PRESQUE ISLE – Despite gloomy weather outside, local residents were enjoying a brighter and roomier space inside at the MPG Shopping Center, which has moved into a new building on Parsons Street.

The local hardware and appliance store, owned by Maine Potato Growers Inc., opened its doors Monday, and officials said the response has been enthusiastic.

“We’ve been pleasantly surprised – given that the weather has been so awful – with the steady traffic we’ve had since 7 a.m.,” Joe Lallande, MPG president and CEO, said late Monday afternoon. “They love it. It is such a huge change for the better from where we were before to what we’re in now.”

The shopping center just moved into its new, 14,000-square-foot facility, which features about 10,000 square feet of retail space. Lallande said the new facility offers brighter lighting, higher ceilings, room for displays, expanded hardware lines and a wider selection of paint and appliances, as MPG is a new dealer for GE Profile and ACE Hardware and Paint. The company also plans to offer an expanded garden center this spring.

The new building is located next to the old hardware store, which has been around since the 1960s and contains about 5,000 square feet of retail space. Plans are to tear down the oldest section of that building and to convert the remaining portion into warehouse space.

Groundwork for the new building began in early October. Lallande said that the steel for the facility arrived in December and that the building has gone up in the last three months.

“In the last three weeks, we’ve been basically merchandising the new store, putting in new shelves, getting price tags on,” Lallande said. “ACE told us we couldn’t do it as quickly as we did, but we did.”

The CEO attributed that to MPG employees.

“Our people at the store are just fantastic,” he said. “They’ve worked all kinds of hours and Saturdays and Sundays to make this happen.”

Store Manager Allen Page said on Monday that he worked in the old space for 23 years and that while employees will miss the old building, they are excited about what this means for the future.

“This is a commitment to keep the business viable,” Page said. “Competitionwise, it has put us at the forefront to compete with Lowe’s and other hardware dealers in the area.”

Lallande agreed.

“Our fundamental purpose is to continue to be a destination for our customer base and have a place where they can go and be comfortable shopping,” Lallande said. “I think we’ve managed to do that in spades.”