Renys in Pittsfield relocated to 506 Somerset Ave. in June 2023. Photo courtesy of R.H. Reny Inc.

WATERVILLE — The new, long-awaited Renys department store is set to open in early April at Elm Plaza in Waterville, with a job fair for prospective employees planned for this Friday.

Renys, which bills itself as “A Maine Adventure,” carries a variety of merchandise including Maine-themed gifts, clothing, footwear, housewares, food, cleaning products and summer furniture. The store will be located in space that formerly housed JCPenney, which closed last year.

“We will be open the beginning of April,” Renys co-owner Adam Reny said. “We don’t have an exact date yet. We are on schedule and ready to go. There’s still a lot more work to be done, but we’re getting there.”

The new store will use 31,000 square feet of the 45,000-square-foot space that JCPenney occupied, according to Reny.

“This is going to be our 19th store location and we employ about 500 people currently throughout Maine,” he said. “We’re excited to be there in Waterville. We love being part of Maine communities and giving people options at a good price for stuff they need — and stuff they don’t think they need. We’ll have everything all of our other stores carry.”

The job fair is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. this Friday at the new store’s location at 60 Elm Plaza, off upper Main Street. Reny said the store will employ about 50 full- and part-time employees at peak times. While the management team is already in place — the business tries to hire and promote from within, according to Reny — positions are open for sales clerks, cashiers, employees who stock shelves and price items and department leads for mens’ and womens’ clothing. Reny said the business tries to cross-train employees so they are familiar with various operations.

“There are lots of different things to do in retail,” he said.

Renys opened in April 2024 at 46 Springer Drive in Bangor. Photo courtesy of R.H. Reny Inc.

The store will be open seven days a week and, depending on the time of year, the hours will typically be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Reny said a contractor has been working at the Elm Plaza space since October and the management team has been inside helping to set it up with shelving and fixtures and mapping out the space.

“We re-did all the lighting, floors, new bathrooms, manager’s office,” he said. “It’s definitely going to look a lot different than JCPenney — a lot brighter. We re-did the front of the store as well. There’s plenty still to do, but everything’s going really great. The contractor is amazing, and the landlord.”

Reny’s grandfather, the late Robert H. Reny, opened his first store in Damariscotta in 1949. R.H. Reny Inc.’s main office and distribution center is in neighboring Newcastle, in Lincoln County. Adam Reny’s uncle, co-owner, John Reny, announced in November 2023 that the family planned to open a store in Waterville.

Renys stores closest to Waterville are in Madison, Farmington, Gardiner and Pittsfield.