Ouellette’s Variety, located at 342 Sweden Street in Caribou, is a full service convenience store offering a little bit of everything from groceries and fresh-baked goods to gas, work gloves and motor oil. Recent new owners, Fred and Lisa Degenhardt, purchased the well-known, long-established variety store the end of January this year, from original owners Bob and Alice Ouellette.
Open 24 hours, seven days a week, 375 days a year, with 15 full-time and six part-time employees, the new owners are serious about providing good customer service to their customer base.
“We want our customers to be comfortable visiting us, happy with the products we sell and the service they receive,” said the Degenhardts.
The Degenhardts have made a few changes as new owners. “Mostly, we’ve just changed things around,” said Fred Degenhardt, “we have extended our grocery line a little bit but most of the changes have been just rearranging the aisles and displays,” he added.
Always a busy location for individuals in need of gas for their vehicles, the popular variety store draws a wide variety of clientele. Not only a convenient stop for someone needing a grocery item late in the evening, Ouellette’s is also a hot spot for athletes and spectators during all four of the sports seasons, looking for just the right quick meal or snack fix.
Since the change of ownership, the bakery section, always a favorite spot, has added a few new items to the long and varied list of baked goods that already included cakes, cookies, squares, breads, rolls, biscuits and doughnuts, to name just a few.
Also available are breakfast sandwiches, fried chicken, pizza by the slice, salads, beans, cold and hot sandwiches and sliced deli meats.
To go along with your freshly prepared food, Ouellette’s Variety also has hot and iced coffee, milk, soda, beer, wine and is an agency liquor store.
