The three IGA grocery stores in central Aroostook County are changing ownership next month.
Scott and Rena Carlin of Presque Isle have crafted an agreement to sell their stores to Joshua Tweedie, the current president of Big Rock Transportation in Mars Hill.
The Carlins have owned the stores for 18 years and Scott Carlin has been working in them for 43 years.
“I’ve enjoyed it a lot, but it’s come to a time where we’d like to spend more time on ourselves,” said Scott Carlin, explaining their decision to sell.
Along with spending more time at their camp in the North Maine Woods, Carlin said the couple would like to be able do more travelling and visit their grown sons in Massachusetts and Michigan.
During high school in Presque Isle, Carlin started working for the Mars Hill IGA, which part of his family owned.
When Vince Bernier bought the store in 1979, Carlin became store manager — at the age of 20 — and four years later became general manager for the three stores in Mars Hill, Fort Fairfield and Presque Isle. Carlin kept that position until 1999, when he and Rena purchased the three stores.
Now, Carlin said he feels good about selling the business to Tweedie, who also worked at the Mars Hill IGA in high school.
IGA grocery stores are operated as retail franchises. Carlin said that Tweedie had expressed interest in buying the business in years past, and that more recently the time seemed right. The sale takes effect March 6, and Carlin will stay on as a consultant for one year.
“For me in the end, it was about doing something for me and my family,” said Josh Tweedie. “It was an opportunity I felt I couldn’t pass up.”
Tweedie’s family recently lost their house to a fire. He said they are planning to rebuild a home on the property and that they took the fire as an example of how life can change quickly.
“After the fire, I knew I was doing the right thing,” Tweedie said of purchasing the stores. “I knew things could change so quick. Life goes by too quick and this opportunity may never come again.”