The family that owns Damariscotta Hardware plans to open a store in the town of Randolph next year pending the outcome of a feasibility study.
The company has a contract in place to buy three buildings at 240, 242 and 246 Water St. in the Kennebec County town, between the Randolph Fire Department and the intersection of Water Street and Windsor Street, said Damariscotta Hardware President Rob Gardiner.
If the purchase goes through, the company would demolish the existing buildings and build a new store, which it would call Randolph Hardware.
If everything goes perfectly, construction would start by the fall or winter and the store would open in spring 2014. The new store would employ 10-18 people, Gardiner said.
Do it Best, the hardware store cooperative, will conduct a retail study. Damariscotta Hardware is also in talks with Peachey Builders of Augusta, the contractor that built its Damariscotta store.
The town of Randolph seems “very excited” about the project, Gardiner said.
Damariscotta Hardware has about two months to complete the purchase under the terms of the contract. The company would then apply to the Randolph Planning Board and begin to navigate the other regulatory processes necessary for the project.
The plans for Randolph Hardware represent the family’s first attempt at a second store, Gardiner said. “We’ve been looking probably for the last eight years or so,” he said, with the focus on Kennebec County.
The family selected Randolph after a “process of elimination” and has received positive feedback from area residents, including an employee who lives across the Kennebec River in Gardiner.
The family is “very excited about the opportunity,” Gardiner said.
Gardiner, a Damariscotta resident, and his sisters, Susan Geyer of Bristol and Elayn Hilton of Newcastle, own Damariscotta Hardware, which was founded in 1955 by their father, the late Bob Gardiner.
