Ramblers Way readies Portland store amid search for other sites
Photo / Renee Cordes
Ramblers Way readies its Portland store at 75 Market St. for a Nov. 9 grand opening.
Ramblers Way, the Kennebunk-based maker and retailer of “clothing for a good life” started by Tom’s of Maine founder Tom Chappell, is coming to downtown Portland.
The 5,000-square-foot corner space in a former furniture store is at 75 Market St, where it intersects Middle Street. That location is not far from West Elm, the home-furnishings store that opened at 164 Middle St. in July.
Besides Kennebunk, Ramblers Way also has stores in Portsmouth, its flagship, and Hanover, N.H.
“When I started opening these stores I wanted to be in Portland first,” said Tom’s daughter Eliza Chappell, designer of the women’s collection and all of the retail stores, in a telephone interview.
She said that while the search for a Portland location began a couple of years ago, none worked out for various reasons.
“It’s actually quite a positive that we held out for the right situation and we absolutely love the location,” she said.
A grand opening is planned for Nov. 9.
The new space consists of about 3,000 square feet for retail and the rest for in-store cut-and-sew stations for custom orders. As for staffing, Chappell said she’s hired a store manager and is looking for sales associates, one full-time and two part-time. She’s also looking to hire about six stitchers to sew basic garments in the store whom customers will be able to observe working at their sewing machines.
On that front Chappell said she’s had conversations with Adele Masengo Ngoy, founder and president of the nonprofit Women United Around the World , who has trained immigrant women on making handbags for Flowfold.
“She’s going to be training people and bringing immigrants to us. We’re very excited about that,” said Chappell. “We are also hiring anybody that wants to sew.”
Ramblers Way is advertising for jobs in the new store’s window and via job-search engine Indeed.com.
As Ramblers Way prepares to open in Portland, it’s still scouting around for prospects elsewhere in New England, specifically in Greenwich, Conn., and Cambridge, Mass.
But as with Portland, the plan is to keep looking until landing on the right spot.
“In the end location is everything,” said Chappell.
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