MONMOUTH — If the potential for a grant or a tax break isn’t enough to attract entrepreneurs to the downtown, the fragrance of baking bread and fresh-cooked doughnuts emanating from the town’s newest business just might be.
Apple Valley Bakery, the first food-centric business to inhabit Main Street in nearly two years, is not only a realized goal for its owners; it also is the first business to take advantage of a grant the town established to revitalize the downtown.
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The bakery, located at 829 Main St., saw a steady stream of customers over its first couple of days in business and is already attracting new faces to Main Street
“It was a phenomenal turnout,” co-owner Thomas “TJ” Quinn said of opening day. “Two times on Monday all the seats were taken.”
The bakery is located in the same building as the former Roadside Bakery & Cafe, which closed in February 2013. The owner, Cheryl Souza, said at the time that the sluggish economy, coupled with increases in state licensing and certification fees, which totaled several hundred dollars a year, drove her out of business.
Bakery co-owner Kelly Sanborn Webb began making plans to restore a business to the building and the downtown after Souza shut the doors.
“I was born and raised in Monmouth,” she said. “To me, this is a quaint town. I wanted to make sure the building came to life.”
The couple, who also own TJ’s place, a popular restaurant on U.S. Route 202, purchased the Main Street building at auction and then set to work giving it a facelift that included a new roof, flooring and equipment. Quinn tore down a shed on the property and used the weathered siding to cover the horsehair plaster walls inside. The treatment, coupled with the exposed beams, gives the bakery a trendy, rustic ambiance. Quinn found a selection of shields tucked away on the second floor where the Knights of Pythias used to meet. The shields now hang inside the bakery.
The couple worked with family to do most of the renovations, but they hired Martin Bumann, owner of Monmouth MVB painting, to paint.
“He did a phenomenal job,” Quinn said.
The couple applied for and received a facade grant through the town’s Tax Increment Finance program, which gave them $6,000, or half the cost of the paint job and other repairs to spruce up the outside.
“These folks did a tremendous amount of work on their own,” said Selectman Tim McDonald, who chairs the town’s economic development committee. “We were certainly happy to help them get going and be successful.”
The TIF captures for local control about half of the additional revenue created when Central Maine Power revamped its substation in South Monmouth. The maneuver allows the town to keep about $146,000 in property taxes that are earmarked for specific projects, such as downtown improvements to attract additional businesses and giving new businesses a tax break. Spending is limited to projects outlined in the TIF plan approved early last year by voters and the state.
“This was our first but not last business facade grant,” said Town Manager Curtis Lunt. “We … feel confident that our business friendly programs will help the town prosper.”
McDonald said the town is working on other TIF-funded programs, such as a micro-loan program and events advertising he hopes will provide a stronger draw for both people and businesses.
The bakery particularly fills a void created when the Roadside Bakery & Cafe closed, McDonald said. Main Street used to host the popular Curly’s restaurant and Leone’s pizza shop, but since the bakery closed there has been no place downtown for large groups of people to gather together and socialize, McDonald said.
“One of the things we’d dearly love to have in this town is a good restaurant like we used to have years ago,” McDonald said. “The bakery is a step toward that.”
Perhaps most importantly are the people who will come to work at the bakery every day, McDonald said.
“They’ve created a few jobs there,” he said. “That’s ultimately the goal of economic development.”
Those new jobs include a couple of part-time bakers and head baker Jessi Donahue of Monmouth. Her commitment to perfection has already impressed her bosses.
“We have the same beliefs,” Webb said. “We want to put out a quality product. If it isn’t quality, it goes into the trash.”
The bakery serves the expected selections, including doughnuts, breads, cookies, muffins and pies, both the regular kind and whoopie. There also is soup for those looking for a light lunch. Everything is homemade, Webb said.
“We’re already on our second tray of cinnamon buns this morning, and it’s not even noon time,” she said last week.
The couple settled on Carrabassett Coffee.
“I want to support Maine companies,” Webb said.
The bakery is open weekdays 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.
Webb attributes the bakery’s early success to word spreading through the restaurant and a Facebook page that was updated regularly during the countdown to opening day. The page now has nearly 600 followers.
Many of those who turned out during the first week live in town, but Quinn said there were a number of visitors from outside the community as well.
Larry Day, who lives nearby, said he was one of the first customers to walk through the door. The coffee and doughnuts have kept him coming back. He also is a regular at TJ’s Place.
“I had breakfast at the other place,” he said last week. “I came here for the 10 o’clock coffee break.”
Day said he used to eat at the Roadside Bakery & Cafe and was sad to see it go. He hopes Apple Valley is here to stay.
“We need more places like this,” he said. “I hope the public will support it. You have to sell a lot of doughnuts to pay for a place like this.”
Quinn said the bakery is the couple’s way of thanking people who have supported the restaurant.
“The town does so much for us,” he said. “It’s part of giving back to the town, to help us and help them. We want TJ’s and this to compliment each other.”
Craig Crosby — 621-5642
Twitter: @CraigCrosby4
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