Mexicali News: Big Changes in Our Newcastle Store!

Here at Mexicali Blues we are very excited to begin construction on a new Newcastle
store, and we will be setting up shop temporarily in Damariscotta beginning this week.
The temporary store in Damariscotta will be located at the old Animal House at 372
Main Street on Business Rte. 1. “Our temporary location is close to our first home,
now King Eiders, so we’re looking forward to reconnecting Mexicali Blues with
downtown Damariscotta,” says Mexicali Blues owner Pete Erskine, “especially during
the excitement of the Pumpkin Festival and upcoming holiday season” he added. Our
current Newcastle location will close on Wednesday, September 12th so that merchandise can be moved to the temporary Damariscotta store, which will open at 372 Main Street on Thursday, September 13th.

The new retail store has been designed by Anna Courville and William M. Thompson,
AIA of Newcastle-based Stoneboat Architectural Design PC. As a company we have
grown significantly as a brand since opening the current Newcastle store over 17 years
ago, and we are now the position to replace the old, inefficient building with one that will be a flagship. “We focused on designing a space that would echo who Mexicali Blues is as a company, while ensuring that the design was rooted here in Maine,” said Courville.

We have contracted with Becker Construction of Newcastle and Nobleboro, owned by
Mark Becker and Deb Wilson, to build the new retail flagship. Everyone here is excited
about the local partnerships stemming from this project. “The new design is a true
reflection of the international brand that Mexicali Blues is today. Stoneboat and Becker
Construction have done an unbelievable job of fostering a truly collaborative design
environment,” said Topher Mallory, CEO of Mexicali Blues. “From our perspective,”
said Deb Wilson, VP of Becker Construction, “we are thrilled to be working with our
neighbors to bring their dream of a very special and creative retail environment to
fruition.” The new building will be environmentally efficient, working within the means
of our company while keeping the best interests of the community in sight.

This new building will increase the size over the current location, coming in at roughly
4,000 square feet. A parking lot around the back will increase parking and enhance
safety by removing the curb barriers on the edge of Route 1 and routing customers
and staff away from the edge of the highway. The temporary Damariscotta Mexicali
Blues location will have the same phone number as before, 207-563-3680. The
new Newcastle location will open in the second half of 2013. Follow our progress on
our Facebook page and here on the blog!