The Bayside Store, a Northport mainstay for pizzas, subs and penny candy, has been bought by two sisters in their twenties.
Northport residents Elisabeth and Emilia Parker, aged 25 and 20 respectively, took over the store on Feb. 15. Emilia has worked at the store, located on Route 1 near the Belfast line, for more than three years.
Favorites like breakfast pizza, lobster rolls and penny candy aren’t going anywhere. But the Parker sisters are adding their own touches like Emilia’s homemade sourdough bread and cinnamon rolls, which already have a following. They plan to start serving espresso drinks soon and to add more indoor seating so people can linger. And they hope to sell more locally-made goods.
“They’re going to make it more bougie,” said former owner Liz Lane with a laugh.
When the Parker sisters heard that Lane was looking to sell, the idea of taking over seemed fun but also like a long-shot.
“It kind of started as a joke,” Elisabeth said. “And then it got a little more serious.”
Lane, 65, was exhausted from running the store for the last six years, but she didn’t want to sell to just anyone. “It had to be the right fit,” she said.
In the summer, kids ride their bikes in droves from the Bayside neighborhood — a summer colony of petite gingerbread cottages overlooking Penobscot Bay — to buy candy, Lane said.
“It’s like a rite of passage to be able to ride to the store and get penny candy,” she said.
In one of the store’s corners, kids record their heights in marker on the wall each year.
“Emilia, having worked for me, understands the community commitment,” Lane said.
The store originally largely served Bayside’s summer visitors but Lane decided to open it year-round to serve the broader community.
The sisters are part of a family of six kids, and everyone including their parents has been involved so far. One sister makes doughnuts, the littlest one knows how to work the cash register.
The biggest challenge so far has been taking over the business at its slowest time of year. But Elisabeth said the community has been showing up.
“Local people have just been so supportive and just going out of their way to stop by, offering to help with anything we need,” she said.
Lane, for her part, isn’t going very far away. She’s opening an antique mall next door to the store that will have 20 vendors. Its soft opening is planned for early April.