The owner of Maine’s northernmost mall finds success by keeping it local

After owning the Aroostook Centre Mall for just over a year, Presque Isle developer Dana Cassidy is hatching more big plans.

The 30,000-square-foot Trampoline City II , will open in about a month, and he’s working to bring a Japanese grill restaurant, golf simulator and new hotel to the area.

Cassidy, the mall’s first local owner, aimed to revitalize it so people would spend their money in Aroostook County rather than traveling south. More than a dozen shops have taken root under its roof in the past year. But even though many residents clamor for big-box stores, there’s a reason you won’t see one at the mall — at least not yet. Local people can put the mall on solid footing, Cassidy said.

“Big-box stores have all the control. When they make money, it goes to their home office,” he said. “That has been the catalyst that has taken down malls around the country and the world.”

Part of his reasoning involves what northern Mainers have seen for years: national businesses come in, see that they’re not making the amounts of money they would in large, urban centers, and pull out. Sears, Kmart, Staples and Kay Jewelers left the mall years ago.

Aroostook Centre was always owned by New York entities. Built in 1993 by Widewaters Group, it was sold to Sitt Asset Management for $10 million in 2001. When no interest came at a 2017 auction, lender Wells-Fargo held it for roughly two years, and Kohan Retail Investment Group bought it for $4.65 million in 2019. But Kohan left bills unpaid and the mall nearly shut down completely in February 2023.

Cassidy bought the shopping center and surrounding land last year at auction, and has seen 13 new local tenants come in. Among them, Flannel & Barrel Couture and Cushman’s of Presque Isle, who moved from downtown locations; the new Children’s Museum of Aroostook County ; Mom & Me Pizzeria; Outlaw Detailing; and Crafters’ Creations , a space where local artisans sell their wares.

The craft shop owner plans to move into a larger space in the mall. Omni Fitness, a 24-hour gym, opened about three months ago, and an athletic shoe store called On Your Feet is soon to open, Cassidy said.

Of the mall’s original anchors at its 1993 opening, JCPenney is the only one remaining. The company renewed its lease last July and is already asking to renew again, Cassidy said.

The mall was losing $1.2 million annually when he bought it, but it made nearly $600,000 last year, he said. With new developments, he plans to boost business even more by making the mall a community space where people want to hang out.

“What the Aroostook Centre has, or will have very soon, is this fabulous array of destination places. The trampoline park is part of that, the children’s museum, the restaurant that’s coming soon,” he said. “No one’s getting rich, but they’re all comfortable and they’re staying.”

Trampoline City II is similar to Cassidy’s Trampoline City in Skowhegan, he said. There will be space for different age levels, including adults, cameras and wide-screen monitors so parents and staff can keep an eye on everything, and two party rooms. It’s more than 80 percent complete and should open in a month, Cassidy said.

The Children’s Museum of Aroostook County opened in the spring and is designed like a miniature city, with stations where kids can learn and play.

Now, Cassidy is working to open Shogun Hibachi Steakhouse, a Japanese-style restaurant similar to Bangor’s Kobe. Owner Lalu Dedi Sutanto also co-owns Crazy Sumo and Crazy Sumo II in Ellsworth and Newport , respectively.

The restaurant will open in about three to four months across the street at Stoneridge Event Center, which Cassidy also owns. The concept will include 10 grills with seating around them, where chefs will prepare the food as guests watch. New landscaping and lighting is also underway at the site.

Cassidy also plans to open a Top Golf simulator store, a CrossFit site and, next to the mall, a national chain hotel.

Initial plans and licensing are underway for a $13 million hotel, which would have about 80 rooms and be built on land between the mall and Lowe’s, Cassidy said. He isn’t sure of the brand yet.

As he walked through the mall on a recent day, Cassidy said he is pleased with how things have gone so far. The U.S. Army veteran, who owns businesses in Maine and Florida, said he tells business owners they’re all on the same page.

Dixie Shaw, director of hunger and relief services for Catholic Charities of Maine, said the businesses have formed a family.

“We’re a community. We’re all in this together,” she said. “Whatever helps one of us helps all of us.”

Catholic Charities Maine’s Threads of Hope Thrift Store recently relocated from Parsons Street in Presque Isle to the former Staples space in the shopping center. Shaw is planning an Aug. 10 celebration at Threads of Hope for her 70th birthday, and mall tenants have united to plan raffles and specials to draw people in that day, she said.

The effort will also help County residents in need: the price of admission is a donation to Feed the County, Shaw’s key project that supplies 30 food pantries throughout Aroostook.

That unity is how Cassidy envisioned the mall’s rebirth under local control. Once he’s satisfied it’s stable, he might consider a chain store, he said.

“I’m calling it home grown. The people are strong, they’re steady, and they care,” he said. “If I’ve got people that live here, work here, play here, and they’re happy and solid, 20 years from now they’ll still be here.”