The Maine Life shop on the Creamery Pier in Wiscasset. The new shop sells apparel, accessories, and decorations. (Jessica Clifford photo)
Every summer, the Creamery Pier on Route 1 in Wiscasset offers strolling locals and visitors an outdoor mall of sorts with a breeze and an up-close view of the Sheepscot River. This summer the pier introduces two new apparel shops – Maine Life and Lobstaholic.
Next to Forgotten Recipes, a jam shop in its eighth year on the pier, is Maine Life.
Brittany Lilly-Heaberlin, of Edgecomb, opened her apparel and accessories shop, which offers only Maine-made products, about two weeks ago.
Maine Life filled the spot on the pier where Maine Kayaks, a kayak rental shop, was for two seasons, according to Wiscasset Waterfront Committee Chair Susan Robson.
“They moved their building, we bought the building, and we have the permit for the space,” Lilly-Heaberlin said.
After living in Dresden most of her life, Lilly-Heaberlin moved out of state, started a family, and moved back to the Midcoast.
She sees the shop as a way of “doing something for myself that I could make my own hours with three kids.”
Her neighbor in Edgecomb, Ron Leeman, is also her neighbor on the pier at Forgotten Recipes.
“He said, ‘You want to open a store? Why don’t you open a store right next to us?’ And that’s how it happened,” Lilly-Heaberlin said.
The merchandise available at Maine Life includes T-shirts, sweatshirts, sweatpants, tank tops, jewelry, and decorations. “This is everything I love in a little store,” Lilly-Heaberlin said.
Lilly-Heaberlin created a circular logo with the words “Maine Life The Good Life” surrounding a lobster. She is ordering more apparel with a similar logo, but featuring other well-known Maine animals, such as a moose and possibly a fish. The logo is imprinted on sweatshirts as well as on long and short-sleeve T-shirts.
Maine Life also sells jewelry, including earrings, necklaces, and bracelets. Matching the maritime theme of the shop’s other products, the jewelry is made from fish lures.
“It’s hypoallergenic jewelry, so you can wear it even if you fall asleep at night, it won’t affect your skin,” Lilly-Heaberlin said.
In addition to the other merchandise, Lilly-Heaberlin offers her own handmade glass bottles etched with designs and words. Each bottle is different, with thinly wired lights inside, while flowers and seashells are attached to the outside with twine.
All products at Maine Life range from $15-$35, Lilly-Heaberlin said.
With the summer in front of her, she said she is most excited to meet all the people who walk into her shop.
Maine Life opens at 11 a.m. every day. Closing time depends on the day. “Usually if Frank from Sprague leaves, it’s time to go. He’s the big dog around here,” she said, laughing. Frank Sprague owns the lobster shack on the other side of the pier.
Lobstaholic, an apparel store next to the Wiscasset Area Chamber of Commerce building on the pier, opened in the second week of June.
Samantha Allen and her boyfriend, Mark Brewer, of Boothbay, bought an existing building on the pier. The couple made it their own by painting it red and white and adding a large Lobstaholic sign.
Doublet Design, a seasonal project space for workshops and exhibitions, was in the location for two seasons, Robson said.
The couple started their business because friends of theirs liked the name “Lobstaholic” and pushed them to trademark it.
They started the business in March 2018 and registered the trademark this year.
The couple now wholesales their merchandise to Maine stores such as Janson’s Clothing Store, in Boothbay; Puffin’s Nest, in Damariscotta; and shops in Rockland and Kittery.
“We thought Wiscasset would be a nice coastal spot to see how we do with our product,” Allen, a Wiscasset native, said.
This is the couple’s first shop.
“We eventually, if we can get this business to boom, we’d like to be able to give back to the lobstering community and to help support them,” Allen said.
At the shop, Allen and Brewer sell short and long-sleeve T-shirts, sweatshirts, cozies, bumper stickers, and tote bags, all with versions of the Lobstaholic logo.
Allen said she designed all the logos herself.
Women’s T-shirts come in both crew and V-neck styles.
The shop stocks a variety of colors, such as navy blue, gray, pink, white, and light blue. “Maybe next year we’ll do a whole different lineup, depending on how we do this year,” Allen said of changing out the colors.
Other items sold at Lobstaholic include Maine sea-glass jewelry and accessories from Vitamin Sea by New Harbor artist Kimm Gruden.
The price range for items is between $22.99 for T-shirts and $29.99 for sweatshirts, Allen said.
In the future, she would like to sell nautical-themed toys for children, such as kites.
Lobstaholic is open from 10:30 a.m. to around 4 p.m. Thursday-Sunday. Allen said they do not have a schedule, but plan to stay open late on the Fourth of July this year.
This summer, Allen said she is most excited to see people’s thoughts on their products.
“We’ve had a lot of really good feedback from people. We’ve actually done very well so far being here,” she said.
“We want it to go big; we want to eventually reach more places. This is kind of our stepping stone to see where we go from here,” Allen said.
Businesses and organizations returning to the pier this year are Sprague’s Lobster, Forgotten Recipes, The Potter’s Shed, and the Wiscasset Area Chamber of Commerce information booth.
