The owner of the Maine Diner hopes to save the iconic Wells restaurant from the auction block.
Eight years ago, Jim and Karen MacNeill took over the establishment, where Jim MacNeill has worked for 30 years, according to the Portsmouth Herald.
Despite weathering the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to the federal Paycheck Protection Program, MacNeill has struggled to find enough staff, forcing him to cut back on the diner’s hours, the Herald reported.
That problem was compounded, in part, by the decline in Canadian tourism last year because of President Donald Trump’s trade war and musings about making Canada the 51st state.
Now the Post Road property, which includes both the Maine Diner and the Remember the Maine Gift Shop, is slated to go on the foreclosure auction block at 11 a.m. on June 4. The auction will be held by Portland-based Keenan Auction Co., according to the newspaper.
Nonetheless, MacNeill hopes he can turn the financial situation around to avoid the auction.