MASARDIS, Maine — LouAnne Deabay is ready to start building Mama Lou’s convenience store on Route 11 in Masardis, with plans to open in January.
The town of Masardis recently signed off on a contract with the state government for Deabay to access a $50,000 micro-enterprise grant under the Maine Community Development Block Grant program, and she is set to close soon on a $45,000 loan from the Northern Maine Development Commission.
“As soon as that’s done I’ll be able to start building,” Deabay said. “It’s looking like it will be January 1 when we open.”
The new eatery and convenience store at 1461 Masardis Road will be the only place on Route 11 to buy food between Ashland and Patten, and will aim to feed commuters, passers-by, and the workers at the large lumber mill now known as Daaquam Lumber, Deabay said.
Deabay’s new store will offer fresh-cooked food as well as convenience items, and will be located next to her family’s home. She said she originally planned to open this fall, but was delayed by a few months in acquiring an abutting parcel of land.
Her father-in-law, Freeman Deabay, will be doing much of the construction, along with she and her husband also pitching in, Deabay said.
Masardis has been without a local convenience store since a fire destroyed one in 2014. Deabay said she thinks there is strong demand for a food store serving lumber millworkers, truckers, commuters, hunters and others passing through the Route 11 town of Masardis.
As part of the micro-enterprise grant, Deabay’s store will need to employ at least two full-time employees. One will be herself, and she’ll be looking for another, she said.
Opening the food store has been a goal long in the making for Deabay.
“It’s been a dream of mine to own my own business. When my oldest son graduated from high school, I decided I would do this,” Deabay said.
