| Sunday River Inn becomes four-season rental/retail center |
| By Alison Aloisio |
Newry’s Sunday River Inn is undergoing a transformation, to a four-season, retail/rental outdoor recreation center.
On Thanksgiving the former inn and cross-country ski center will open as the Wilderness House and Sunday River Ski Center.
Gone is the lodging facility that was operated by Steve and Peggy Wight. The upstairs bedrooms have become administrative offices for the new business and for such nonprofit programs as Maine Handicapped Skiing and Winter Kids.
The first floor will become a retail shop, offering in-season equipment and accessories for cross-country and alpine skiing, snowboarding, bicycling, skateboarding, hiking and climbing.
Downstairs, the business will offer the same gear in a rental format.
“We have a four-season plan,” said Kevin Thurston, the new general manager.
Wilderness House is leasing the Sunday River property from the Wights, who formerly operated the inn and cross-country center.
The Newry business becomes the fourth location for Wilderness House. The retail company also owns stores in Boston and Portland, and is opening another new one at Sugarloaf.
The business philosophy, said Thurston, will be to establish an ongoing relationship with individual customers.
They will be offered a WH membership, he said, and those who join will initially be asked brief, basic questions about their outdoor recreation preferences.
“We want to be well-informed about their personal needs and interests,” said Thurston.
“And we expect to see some people in multiple locations.”
The membership arrangement, he said, will also allow customers who might live in Portland, for instance, to go online and choose rental equipment before they leave for Newry. The rental items will be ready and waiting for them.
Wilderness House plans to focus on the “end use” of its equipment, said Thurston.
“We don’t want to just sell you hiking boots,” he said. “We want to meet your interests and join you on a professionally guided hiking experience.”
Other resources
The business will continue to offer cross-country skiing on trails adjacent to its property. Skiing terrain will cover approximately 25 kilometers.
And in a glassed-in room where cross-country skiers used to gather to get ready to ski, to warm themselves and to buy coffee, snacks and soup, WH will open the Wilderness Cafe.
It will offer espresso coffee, panini sandwiches and specialty items provided by DiCocoa’s on Main St. in Bethel.
For customers who plan overnights, Thurston is working to arrange partnerships with established lodging places in the area to offer discounts to WH customers.
Wilderness House also hopes to establish a close relationship with programs that benefit the community, such as Maine Handicapped Skiing and Winter Kids.
“We want to support nonprofits,” said Thurston.
In that same spirit, Wilderness House will provide financial support to the new skatepark in Bethel.
From Thanksgiving to Christmas, the business will donate 5 percent of its retail sales to the park. |
