LIMESTONE, Maine — Five years ago, Brian and Julie Weston would never have predicted that they would be moving away from New York to a town of roughly 2,000 in northern Maine, purchasing a century old Masonic Lodge, opening a coffee shop and bookstore in the building, and then expanding that business to include a laundromat and bottle redemption center in the basement.
But here they are, having recently purchased a small plot of adjacent land from the Town of Limestone to accommodate a new redemption center in the lodge’s basement.
The Westons say the best opportunities usually come by surprise, and they find that careful planning typically ends with lackluster results.
“Everything we’ve planned has not worked out,” said Julie, “and everything we haven’t planned, that has fallen in our laps, has been golden.”
“You can bank on that,” added Brian.
“I think we’re just not going to plan anymore,” Julie said with a laugh.
While Limestone’s Select Board voted to sell the land to the Westons following an executive session at a Feb. 7 meeting, Julie said the town planning board still needs to approve their plan to open the redemption center.
The decision to purchase the 6,555 square foot lot came from the Westons’ purchase of Friendly Redemption Center from Marilyne Ireland. The bottle redemption operation will be located in the lodge’s basement, which is accessible from the outside of the building. But the Westons needed extra space to store returned bottles to be picked up by distributors.
Town officials also asked that the Westons build “some type of attractive shed/barn/garage to replace the metal containers” they are using to house the returnables “within two years,” according to Julie, who agrees that a shed is a good idea.
“We bought the business, all the materials she uses, and the name — all the stuff that’s in there,” said Julie, referring the items left in the current redemption center on the Access Highway.
The Westons also plan to change the name to Eagle’s Redemption, after the local school mascot.
Since the entrepreneurial couple already wear multiple hats with the coffee shop, online book cover business, and their involvement with the Operation Limestone non-profit, they are appointing local resident Frank Beil to manage the redemption center.
“Frank’s really good,” said Brian. “He’s been wanting this opportunity and is excited. And we’re really thankful. The redemption center will be a nice compliment to the building and what we’re doing with the coffee shop. People can get a little extra money for their bottles and then they could get their laundry done here, too.”
“And they can come upstairs for a cup of coffee while their laundry is washing,” Julie added.
“We’re not trying to sound like cigar-smoking capitalists here,” Brian joked.
The Westons say much of the profits from the redemption center and laundromat will ultimately go back into the century old building.
“Just the price for oil this winter is probably going to equal what we paid for the redemption center,” Julie said. “This building takes a lot maintenance. It’s not getting any younger, and eventually we’ll have to replace all the windows and doors, plus we’re having some issues with the furnace.”
Julie added that, structurally, the lodge is in “great shape.”
Brian and Julie Weston of Limestone recently purchased Lot 28 on this map, which will be used as parking space for a laundromat and redemption center, as well as for used bottle pickup. (Christopher Bouchard)
Brian said, with the new businesses supporting the large building, they will be able to build a savings account just in case something goes wrong or needs to be repaired.
The Westons did not want to say how much they paid for the plot of land, adding that some members of the board suggested they should be able to have it for free, while others insisted they pay.
Brian agreed that they should pay for the property.
“I told them straight up,” he said. “I agree that you shouldn’t give anything away. There should be some value. We named a price and they took it right off the bat.”
“It was very reasonable,” said Julie.
Brian added that they’re currently trying to catch their breath, as the redemption center transaction happened so quickly.
Currently, they’re planning to have a soft opening on March 1, with a grand opening sometime around March 10.
Brian said, for him, a key to success is “not getting all bent out of shape,” if you’re not able to finish everything you set out to do for a certain day.
Julie cited the Book of Ecclesiastes as an inspiration for her entrepreneurial efforts in the small border town.
“As Ecclesiastes said, there’s nothing new under the sun,” said Julie. “You take your own life experiences with you, and adapt them to wherever you’re living. When you see a lot of things in other places, you just have more ideas on how that can work with where you are right now.”
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- Brian and Julie Weston stand outside Limestone’s masonic lodge building, which they have purchased and converted into a coffee shop, book store, laundromat, redemption center, and general public gathering spot. Recently, they purchased from the town over 6,000 square feet of land adjacent to the building, which will provide parking as well as a location for bottle distributors to pick up bottles from the redemption center. (Christopher Bouchard)
