Retail Shopping in the Portland area? (South Portland, Kennebunk: home, legal, vs)

[Maine2009]

My wife and I are going to be moving sometime soon back East to the Portland Maine area (most likely the Falmouth/Cape Elizabeth area). Is there much retail shopping in these and other bedroom communities outside of Portland or do most people have to do the majority of their Shopping atThe Maine Mall and the roads leading up to the mall? Any insights of what we should expect would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Boomerang]

There is no lack of stores in Portland or South Portland. The Mall area has more big stores per square mile than surrounding territory. Falmouth and the Cape, not as much, but it's no great distance to the bigger shopping centers. Try going to the SuperPages directory online and doing a search for various businesses like "department store", "clothing store", etc. in your target towns to get a list of stores in the area.

[moughie]

There is a BJ's warehouse off the turnpike around exit ( 8 ) for bulk shopping needs.

[zoe456]

Maine2009,

A 10 minute drive north of Falmouth on U.S. Route 1/I-295 is Freeport. There are a plethora of outlets and retail shops. LL Bean (as most folks are aware of), Gap, Coach, Cole-Haan, Burberry, Banana Replubic, Polo/Ralph Lauren, The North Face, J. Crew, Brooks Brothers, plus many others and great local establishments. The Freeport Merchant's association (Freeport Shop List (http://www.freeportusa.com/FreeportShopList.html - broken link)) has a listing of retail shops.

There's quite a decent retail area in Falmouth itself on U.S. Route 1 - Shaw's (grocery), Rite Aid, Staple's, Pet Quarters, Books Etc., a few car dealerships (Saab, Volkswagen/Mazda/Porsche), a few gourmet takeaway stores that recently opened (Black Cherry Provisions, Leavitt and Sons), a few eateries: Ricetta's Pizzeria, The Foreside Tavern, and a few coffee shops: Maine Coffee Roasters and Starbucks. Plus there's a skating rink (Family Ice) - my company actually has an ice hockey team that skates there every Thursday am!

Portland's Old Port is approx. 5-15 minutes south of Falmouth on I-295 (depending on where you're coming from). On the way into the Old Port on Franklin Arterial, there's a Whole Foods market (which is on my way home so I stop there quite a bit). There are many wonderful locally owned and operated boutiques and shops. Not usually the types of "chain" stores you'd find.

As others have mentioned, there's the Maine Mall off of I-295/Maine Turnpike which has all the major chain-retail stores: Best Buy, Pottery Barn, Macy's, Williams-Sonoma, Coach, Banana Republic, Borders, etc. It's the largest Mall in Maine.

To the south: Kennebunkport and Ogunquit are about a 45 minute drive from Falmouth on the Maine Turnpike (I-95). These towns are great to park and walk around to see the sights and do a little shopping of local stores.

Of course there's Kittery (a 55 minute drive south of Falmouth on I-95), which somewhat emulates Freeport in the offerings of outlets. I find Freeport a bit more compact and walkable. Kittery is a bit stretched out.

The Portsmouth/Newington New Hampshire area - just a stone's throw from Kittery - cannot be overlooked. Newington has a respectable mall area, and downtown Portsmouth is very nice (Strawberry Banke).

Regarding the Boston area: The Burlington Mall- in Burlington, Mass is approx 1.5 hours south on I-95/128. They have a few other stores that we don't have in Maine (Crate and Barrel, West Elm, Lord and Taylor, Apple Computer, they're getting a Nordstrom's soon, Legal Seafoods. We also drive to the closest Ikea (in relation to Maine) about 3x year in Stoughton off of Route 24 (south of Boston, near Brockton). Of course Boston proper has great shopping too! A great day trip and a great sight to see those signs near downtown pointing north to "N.H. - Maine Points" - you can get back to sanity in Maine in no time.

North of Portland, along the coast on U.S. Route 1, Boothbay Harbor (technically accessed south via Maine state route 27), Camden, Belfast, and Bar Harbor (Maine state route 3) offer great little shopping districts. I have to admit the shopping does take a back seat, compared to the scenery!

Good luck with your move --- and happy shopping!

[MRVphotog]

Falmouth and Cape Elizabeth are not really the same area as you have the City of Portland and South Portland between the two and they are very diferent types of communities.

As Zoe has pointed out there is lots of shopping all over the Portland area. From Cape it's a short distance back on Rt 77 to a shopping area in South Portland just before the bridge to Portland. There is also a new shopping center in West Falmouth. Several other new shopping centers around the Portland area.

Camden, Belfast and especially Bar Harbor are alittle far for shopping from either Falmouth and Portland tho. Personally I like shopping in Yarmouth vs Falmouth. In Cumberland all we have is a local general store.

[elston]

Originally Posted by moughie

There is a BJ's warehouse off the turnpike around exit ( 8 ) for bulk shopping needs.

Is BJ's warehouse like Costco's?

[Abbymoulton]

Originally Posted by elston

Is BJ's warehouse like Costco's?

Yes. It is the same type store.

[moughie]

BJ's is owned by the Walmart empire and operates like Costco.
They also have a gas station there for slightly cheaper gas.

[elston]

Thnk you Moughie and Abby! I didn't know it was part of the Walmart empire . Good to know.

[Maine2009]

Originally Posted by zoe456

Maine2009,

A 10 minute drive north of Falmouth on U.S. Route 1/I-295 is Freeport. There are a plethora of outlets and retail shops. LL Bean (as most folks are aware of), Gap, Coach, Cole-Haan, Burberry, Banana Replubic, Polo/Ralph Lauren, The North Face, J. Crew, Brooks Brothers, plus many others and great local establishments. The Freeport Merchant's association (Freeport Shop List (http://www.freeportusa.com/FreeportShopList.html - broken link)) has a listing of retail shops.

There's quite a decent retail area in Falmouth itself on U.S. Route 1 - Shaw's (grocery), Rite Aid, Staple's, Pet Quarters, Books Etc., a few car dealerships (Saab, Volkswagen/Mazda/Porsche), a few gourmet takeaway stores that recently opened (Black Cherry Provisions, Leavitt and Sons), a few eateries: Ricetta's Pizzeria, The Foreside Tavern, and a few coffee shops: Maine Coffee Roasters and Starbucks. Plus there's a skating rink (Family Ice) - my company actually has an ice hockey team that skates there every Thursday am!

Portland's Old Port is approx. 5-15 minutes south of Falmouth on I-295 (depending on where you're coming from). On the way into the Old Port on Franklin Arterial, there's a Whole Foods market (which is on my way home so I stop there quite a bit). There are many wonderful locally owned and operated boutiques and shops. Not usually the types of "chain" stores you'd find.

As others have mentioned, there's the Maine Mall off of I-295/Maine Turnpike which has all the major chain-retail stores: Best Buy, Pottery Barn, Macy's, Williams-Sonoma, Coach, Banana Republic, Borders, etc. It's the largest Mall in Maine.

To the south: Kennebunkport and Ogunquit are about a 45 minute drive from Falmouth on the Maine Turnpike (I-95). These towns are great to park and walk around to see the sights and do a little shopping of local stores.

Of course there's Kittery (a 55 minute drive south of Falmouth on I-95), which somewhat emulates Freeport in the offerings of outlets. I find Freeport a bit more compact and walkable. Kittery is a bit stretched out.

The Portsmouth/Newington New Hampshire area - just a stone's throw from Kittery - cannot be overlooked. Newington has a respectable mall area, and downtown Portsmouth is very nice (Strawberry Banke).

Regarding the Boston area: The Burlington Mall- in Burlington, Mass is approx 1.5 hours south on I-95/128. They have a few other stores that we don't have in Maine (Crate and Barrel, West Elm, Lord and Taylor, Apple Computer, they're getting a Nordstrom's soon, Legal Seafoods. We also drive to the closest Ikea (in relation to Maine) about 3x year in Stoughton off of Route 24 (south of Boston, near Brockton). Of course Boston proper has great shopping too! A great day trip and a great sight to see those signs near downtown pointing north to "N.H. - Maine Points" - you can get back to sanity in Maine in no time.

North of Portland, along the coast on U.S. Route 1, Boothbay Harbor (technically accessed south via Maine state route 27), Camden, Belfast, and Bar Harbor (Maine state route 3) offer great little shopping districts. I have to admit the shopping does take a back seat, compared to the scenery!

Good luck with your move --- and happy shopping!

Zoe, Thanks for all of your feedback and insights. It is greatly appreciated!!