Gorham Village seems like the place to be for business these days, as a new pet supply store opened last month and a hair salon is spiffing up vacant space to be ready to open soon.
Gorham Growl opened at 2A Main St. on Jan. 14, and Gorham Hair & Co., plans to open Tuesday, March 1, at 13 New Portland Road. The two join a growing list of businesses flocking into downtown Gorham.
“Everything seems to be bustling,” Gorham Zoning Administrator David Galbraith said Tuesday.
Gorham residents Ed and Ellen Gowen own Gorham Growl, right on the square in the village. Shelves are stocked with a variety of pet foods, treats and colorful toys. The store’s interior paint matches Gorham schools’ colors, maroon and black.
“We’ve had good support from the community,” Ellen Gowen said Tuesday.
She said the traffic into the village comes from Buxton, Standish and Limington. Customers find parking, and, she said, many owners take their pets into the store, where a bucket of treats waits near the door.
The Gowens have two Great Danes, a rescue dog and a rescue cat. They had to travel to buy pet food, So, they decided to open their own store.
The historic building has housed multiple businesses through the decades. Ellen Gowen said her grandmother once worked in a shop there.
Paintings of pets by a local artist, Matthew Herrick, are displayed on a store wall and are available for purchase.
The store also houses some cats available for adoption from the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland in Westbrook. Gowen said cats love the sun that shines through a large storefront window looking out on the square.
Last week, parents of a 4-year old adopted a cat as a birthday gift for their daughter, she said.
Gorham Growl plans a grand opening in April with vendors and raffles. The store can be reached at 839-4795 or gorhamgrowl@myfairpoint.net.
Elsewhere in the village, Brendon and Brianna Wormell are planning March 1 as opening day for their Gorham Hair & Co. in vacant space in the same building as Mister Bagel. Services offered will include hair, facial treatments, manicures and pedicures.
Brianna Wormell, a cosmetologist, said she’ll work in the shop along with a nail tech and possibly three more people. They’ll cut, color and style hair for women, men and children.
They are refurbishing vacant space adjacent to the bagel restaurant where she once worked. The couple is replacing floors and new sinks will be installed this week. “We have repainted everything,” she said.
Asked the reason why they chose Gorham as a location, she said it’s an “up and coming town.”
“I grew up in Gorham,” she added.
She is a 2008 graduate of Gorham High School and attended the University of Maine. She graduated Spa Tech in Portland and has been a cosmetologist six years, working in the Old Port, Windham and Yarmouth.
Brendon Wormell graduated Westbrook High School and attended Southern Maine Community College. The couple live in Baldwin.
Ellen Gowen is on duty at Gorham Growl at 2A Main St. in Gorham Village. The new business opened on Jan. 14.Send questions/comments to the editors.
