New Aroma Joe’s to open on Route One in Saco

For those who look forward each morning – and afternoon? and evening? – to a bracing cup of java, there’ll soon be another local option. A new Aroma Joe’s location will be opening at 2 Cascade Road in Saco in mid-October.

Aroma Joe’s, which describes itself as a “… local destination for handcrafted coffee and espresso drinks, unique flavor infusions … and all-day food offerings served with positivity…” was started by four cousins in New Hampshire in 2000. Today there are 46 locations in Maine, and a total of 116 primarily in the Northeast, including a handful as far south as Florida.

The site plan for the distinctive 1,000 square foot building at 2 Cascade Road calls for two new buildings, with a proposed Phase 2 structure sandwiched between Aroma Joe’s and the existing Evolution Athletix gym. The Aroma Joe’s lot was purchased from the gym’s owner, Liberty Property Investments, according to application materials on file with the city’s planning department.

The sale of land triggered the need for an amendment to the subdivision for the Park North project, which occupies approximately 300 acres on the east side of U.S. Route One. The proposed lot split was approved by the Planning Board concurrently with the site plan approval in early May, said Assistant Planner Shannon Chisholm.

Access will be off Route One via a private drive, and through the gym parking lot. In addition to the building shell and utilities, roughly 34 parking spaces for Aroma Joe’s, lighting and landscaping are already in place. The two businesses will share parking spaces.

The second building planned on the 0.96 acre Aroma Joe’s property will tentatively be used as retail office space, said Maryna Shuliakouskaya, owner of Pine Tree Coffee, LLC, which also operates the Aroma Joe’s on Moody Street in Saco. Construction of the 2,600 square foot building is planned to start this year.

“We’ve been twelve years on Moody Street,” said Shuliakouskaya, who includes in her portfolio Aroma Joe’s in Gorham, Kittery, Sanford, Naples, Oxford, Scarborough and Winslow. “The Saco community knows me.”

The location sold itself, she told the Saco Bay News. “It’s a very good location, visible, and will support Old Orchard Beach via Cascade Road, and Portland traffic. I stopped by (to inspect the location) at 10:00 at night, brought a flashlight, and thought, ‘this will work.’ “

Shuliakouskaya said that roughly twenty new employees will be hired to staff the new store.

Bob Hamblen can be reached at rhh0918@gmail.com.