YARMOUTH — Day’s Crabmeat & Lobster, a landmark in the area for nearly 80 years, has new owners who plan to carry on the tradition with a few twists.

The sale of Day’s, located at 1269 Route 1, closed on June 15, when Sandy and Dennis Owens sold the business for $935,000 to Randall Curit and Jennifer Rief.

“It’s sad and happy at the same time,” Sandy Owens said. “We wish the best for the new owners. I hope all goes well and they keep up the tradition and reputation of Day’s.”

The new owners said the business will continue to operate under the Day’s name. “We want to do everything Day’s has been doing, but enhance it,” Curit said.

Part of the enhancement is extending the hours from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily in the lobster pound and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the takeout kitchen.

“(The extended hours) will help some commuters who get out of work at 5 p.m. and want to stop in for a lobster roll or some takeout,” she said.

Formerly open from Memorial Day to the first week in October, the restaurant will extend the season and may stay open year-round.

Rief said she met customers have stopped at Day’s for the past 30 years on their commute to Boothbay.

“They love the lobster dinners,” Rief said.

Day’s hopes to serve beer and wine with those lobster dinners. Rief said the town has granted Day’s a liquor license and they’re now waiting on state approval.

Curit, who lives in Gray, will operate Day’s, while Rief, a New Hampshire native, will help run the business from behind the scenes. For 12 years, she’s worked for Craig’s All Natural, a Durham, New Hampshire, seafood wholesaler, and hopes to use her expertise to expand Day’s brand recognition and its products into wholesale. Curit said they also hope to build a website to allow customers to order online.

For now, Rief said her and Curit’s priority is making a smooth ownership transition for their 15 part-time employees.

“The employees that decided to stay on have been incredibly supportive and helpful,” Rief said. “We’re very excited to continue working with them.”

Day’s has been on and off the market for the past decade or so. Gilbert “Specs” Eaton, of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Northeast Real Estate in Freeport, took on the listing a year ago.

“I’ve been here for 42 seasons and my husband for about 30,” Sandy Owens said. “It was just time for a change. Life’s too short.”

Eaton said other buyers had expressed interest in the property, but at the time of the sale, Curit and Rief had no competition. “It was a matter of finding the right person to take the shot,” Eaton said.

When it began in the mid-1920s, Day’s sold crabmeat and crab rolls to customers from its original location in Freeport’s Porter’s Landing. The business moved to Cousins Marsh when owners John and Charles Hilton sold it to Robert Neil Day Sr. in 1943.

After nine years, Day sold the market to his son, Robert Day Jr., who operated it for 35 summers. Owens began working at Day’s when she was 16, then took it over in 1988.

She and Dennis Owens will continue to live in the home on the property, which was included in the purchase, until they find another home in Maine, Owens said. They plan to take the summer off to enjoy their home state before deciding what their next step will be.

“We’ll miss our employees and the customers we’ve had for generations. They’re like family,” Owens said. “(But) we’re ready for the next adventure.”

Jocelyn Van Saun can be contacted at 781-3661, ext. 183 or at:

jvansaun@theforecaster.net. Follow her on Twitter @JocelynVanSaun.