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WATERVILLE — Since the 1940s, an old building in the North End has been a hub for hungry neighbors. For groceries, lunch and a chat, people convened at 40 Ticonic St., which has been home to Juliette’s Bakery and Deli for the last 17 years. .

But now Juliette’s is closing, and the old storefront’s future is uncertain.

Gerard Turmelle, who runs Juliette’s, is retiring, and his brother Arthur, who owns the building, is selling. It will close April 30, and without a buyer willing to keep the store going, it could stay that way.

Juliette’s is unique in the North End, a mom-and-pop staple in a residential neighborhood, and customers said they’d be devastated to see it go. They said nothing like it exists nearby.

The building, 40 Ticonic St., has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, baseboard heating — and a fully operational deli. Whoever buys the building, listed at $275,000, will get two rented units and the business itself, which they could continue running or convert.

Juliette’s has bounced around Turmelle’s family for decades. He and his wife began running the corner store as North End Variety in 1996, two years after his brother Arthur bought the building. In 2009, after Turmelle and his wife took some time off, Turmelle’s sister Juliette established Juliette’s Bakery and Deli. When she retired in 2020, her brother Gerard took it over again.

Turmelle spends every day at the deli, baking, making sandwiches and greeting customers. With a mozzarella ball in each hand, he welcomed a Morning Sentinel reporter through the store’s propped-open door and warmly lit 90s interior into “the cold” — the fridge, a whole room full of sandwich meat and cheese. His employees, who chatter behind the counter as the smells of bacon and freshly baked dough waft through the shop, have a reputation for friendliness.

Trisha Derosier works behind the counter making sandwiches and running the register. Her husband, Ron Thibodeau, likes to stop by late in the day to buy all the leftover Bismarcks. He and Derosier snack on them when she’s done with work.

Thibodeau started visiting the store 35 years ago, before the Turmelles bought the building, when it was still Ced’s Variety Store.

John Herrin and his girlfriend, Barbara Berube, are also longtime customers who visit Juliette’s a few times a week. Herrin loves a BLT or a turkey sandwich, but he said the highlight has always been the fresh bread and friendly faces.

“The community, especially in that area, really relies on that store,” Berube said. “They’re friendly and people know them — they’re part of the community. They grew up in there, Juliette and her brother, they grew up right in that neighborhood.”

Michelle Gardner discovered Juliette’s when her favorite spot for Dagwoods — layered, extra-tall sandwiches — closed. When she found Juliette’s, she was delighted by the generous portions and impeccable layers. The atmosphere kept her coming back.

“They’re a little small, old-fashioned bakery that you don’t find as much anymore,” Garner said. She said whenever she goes to Juliette’s, which she does regularly, she gets a smile. And when she went in for lunch on her birthday, it was pizza on the house. “It was so sweet.”

Turmelle said Juliette’s brings in around $500,000 a year in sales, and he credits his customers with the deli’s success. He sees new customers every day, and said it’s thanks to word of mouth.

Since the building went up for sale, Turmelle said two buyers dropped out at the last minute, one due to a high inspection cost, but he’s hopeful.

“There’s good juju out there,” he said. “I know there is.”

He wants someone to take over the beloved deli, and he’s happy to give them the name, but said whoever does better not mess with his Steak bombs or chicken salad sandwiches.

His customers agree.

Staff Photographer Rich Abrahamson contributed to this report.