TOPSHAM — On the heels of opening in Portland this week, R.H. Reny revealed plans to open a department store in Topsham in August.
Company President John Reny said Tuesday that Renys will rent the former Village Candle space at the Topsham Fair Mall. The store will be more than 30,000 square feet.
With the opening of the Congress Street store in Portland on Thursday, Reny acknowledged that “we’ve got an awful lot on our plate, but the opportunity arose, and you’ve got to strike while the iron’s hot.”
He said the company was attracted to Topsham because it’s “a very busy place.”
Reny said this will be the first time the company has opened two stores in the same year. His father opened the first store in Damariscotta in 1949; Topsham will be the company’s 16th.
“We are extremely excited to welcome Renys to Topsham,” John Shattuck, the town’s director of economic and community development, said Wednesday. “We think it’s going to kick off a nice little resurgence … for the mall.”
Renys will occupy only part of the Topsham building.
“There are other things in the works for the rest of that building, and we think they’ll be exciting, too,” Shattuck said.
Alex Lear can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 113 or alear@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @learics.
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