Casual fine dining restaurant Charlie Beiggs in North Windham is under new ownership, but the new owners said customers can still count on the same dining experience.

“There won’t be any changes right away. Our thing is to take the success that Charlie Beiggs already has, learn from it, and go from there,” said Tony Barner. He and Clare Amrhein are from Connecticut and the couple signed the ownership papers on Nov. 30.

Irene Discatio, who had owned Charlie Beiggs with Peggy Rowe since 1999, said she and Rowe will be working with Barner and Amrhein until the end of the year to make the transition as smooth as possible.

“The people have been wonderful, everyone has extended open arms and we really appreciate that,” said Barner, who experienced his first Maine winter storm this week. He said he and Amrhein had been looking for a place to purchase in this area for a little while.

“This is one that struck us as being really good,” he said.

Windham Economic Development Director Keith Luke said that sales of restaurants are not uncommon.

“It’s a lot of hard work,” said Luke. “The opportunity to turn a nickel is there, but I think that owner-operators find themselves exhausted and welcome the opportunity to work for someone else.”

I wouldn’t say that it is a trend, so much that it is a natural occurrence of the independent restaurant business,” said Doran Wright, a business broker with Portland-based Daigle Commercial Group and a member of the Windham Economical Development Corporation.

“In our experience, the lifespan of ownership of a restaurant can be from two years to 20 or more,” he said.

“The Landing has changed hands twice in the last five years,” he added as an example.

Located next door to Charlie Beiggs, The Landing Restaurant was recently purchased by Alyssa and Donald Gordon.

Alyssa Gordon said the the seafood-focused restaurant will close for renovations in January and expects to reopen in early February with a new floor layout and new menu items, including a vegetarian section.

Wright said the Lakes Region area has a strong and diverse restaurant selection.

“There will always be a need and demand for independent restaurants that don’t serve formulaic food,” said Wright.

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