By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
HOULTON — When Jeremy Bither of Hodgdon was unable to find a suitable job putting his skills as a cook to use; he did the next logical step — he opened up his own shop.
JB’s Quick Mart, located at 135 Military St., celebrated its grand opening Friday with a day filled with specials. It marked the culmination of five long months of preparation and planning for Bither.
Pioneer Times photo/Joseph Cyr
STORE OWNER — Jeremy Bither of Hodgdon has opened JB’s Quick Mart in Houlton at 135 Military St. The convenience store features pizzas, snacks and beverages.
Located in a part of town commonly referred to as “paddy holler,” JB’s Quick Mart brings back pizza, subs and sandwiches to an area of Houlton that has been without since the former establishment, “Emily’s Qwik Mart” closed its doors a couple of years ago.
“I always wanted this store,” Bither said. “After it closed, I would drive by and see it sitting empty. I remember this store back when it was Graham’s.”
Beverages, snacks, beer and cigarettes are the staple of any convenience store and JB’s Quick Mart is no different. One thing that may set it apart from the rest, however, is the fact that the majority of the food prepared at the store is made from scratch, based on Bither’s own personal recipes.
“I’m hoping that will entice people to come back in and give us a try,” he said.
If the initial turnout is any indication, drawing in customers should not be a problem. Bither held a “soft” opening March 22 by simply turning on the lights and switching the sign to open. In a short period of time, customers started filing in to check out the new establishment.
Among the food items available are pizzas, sandwiches and subs. He plans to add fried foods to the menu in the near future.
His specialty food is the steak and cheese sub, made with black angus rib-eye steak cooked slowly for six hours with Bither’s own combination of seasonings.
While Bither is waiting for his line of bread products to arrive, he is fully stocked with candy, chips and other snacks. Breakfast sandwiches and coffee will be available in the mornings and pizza slices (and later burgers and fries) will be offered for those looking to grab a quick bite to eat for lunch.
Bither was a cook in the U.S. Navy for seven years on the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy.
“That is where I learned 90 percent of my cooking skills,” he said.
When he got out of the Service, Bither came home to Houlton, but found the cooking opportunities lacking.
“I always wanted to cook,” he said. “So I used my G.I. Bill and went to the Le Cordon Bleu College of Cullinary Arts in Boston. I went because I wanted to fine tune some of my skills.”
He came back to the Shiretown and purchased the vacant convenience store in October and has spent the past five months renovating the facility to re-open. Since the building sat dormant for two years, a great deal needed to be done and equipment had to be repaired or replaced in order to pass inspection.
“When anything sits for two years, a lot of things can go wrong,” he said. “We’ve spent a lot of time making sure this place looked clean and presentable before we opened.”
Future expansion includes relocating the kitchen to the back part of the store to increase space for more products; adding lottery tickets; and potentially bringing back the fuel pumps.
JB’s Quick Mart will be open from 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. For more information, call 532-0800 or visit their Facebook page.
