JULIE AND GEOFF GROLEAU sit behind the counter at Papa Geppetto’s Workshop at 180 Front St. The couple will move their toy and novelties business next to Red’s Eats in Wiscasset on Feb. 9.
Geoff and Julie Groleau want to emphasize a point: There’s nothing about Bath they don’t like.
But it’s not every day that you get the chance to move your business next door to one of the state’s premier tourist attractions.
The Groleaus found themselves with just that opportunity, and they seized the moment.
On Feb. 9, the newly named Papa Geppetto’s Toys & Treasures will open its doors at 49 Water St. in Wiscasset — right next to Red’s Eats.
“It’s a great opportunity,” Julie Groleau said Tuesday as she and her husband continued their moving sale at the current Papa Geppetto’s Workshop at 180 Front St. “We’re going to be right near Red’s Eats. It just so happens I was in the right place at the right time.”
As Groleau explained it, the owner of the Old Wiscasset General Store had been looking to retire, and wanted to lease the building to an established business. The Groleaus said they pounced on that bit of news.
Papa Geppetto’s will open in Wiscasset a couple of months before Red’s — the familiar red seafood shack that helps congest summer traffic on U.S. Route 1 — opens for the season in April. Traffic on U.S. 1 often exceeds 25,000 vehicles a day in Wiscasset village, according to town data, and the Groleaus say they will be ready for the crowd.
Jeff Groleau said he and his wife had no specific plans to move their business. But a Sunday drive to Wiscasset opened his eyes.
“We made one sale (in Bath) on a Sunday, and I drove to Wiscasset and counted 113 people in front of Red’s, at 6:30 on a Sunday night,” he said.
The new store — at 2,000 square feet — will be double the size of the Bath business. The Groleaus plan to be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week, and until 7 or 8 p.m. in the summertime.
“We’ll carry a lot more games, souvenirs, science kits and models,” Julie Groleau said.
Papa Geppetto’s will close in Bath on Jan. 27. The Groleaus are hoping to sell down their inventory with a moving sale. They’re offering 15 percent off everything storewide, 20 percent off a $100 purchase and 25 percent on a $200 purchase.
The location, they say, is just down the hill from the head of Front Street, and beyond where most tourists walk.
“It’s not Bath’s fault,” Geoff Groleau said. “We adore Bath. The people are nice, the tenants are nice and the landlord, Jane Morse, is nice.”
lgrard@timesrecord.com
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