Vic & Whit's in Saco celebrates 50 years

SACO — The year was 1972. It was the year that Maine senator Edmund Muskie withdrew from the presidential race after negative comments about him and his wife appeared in the Manchester Union Leader newspaper. President Richard Nixon went on to win a landslide re-election against George McGovern; and five men were arrested that year for a break-in at the Watergate business complex in Washington, D.C.

Meanwhile, American moviegoers were treated to several notable and legendary films, including The Godfather, Deliverance and the horrifically awful Poseidon Adventure, which, in my opinion, is still better than Titanic. (Leonardo DiCaprio wasn’t even born yet.)

In 1972, Hewlett Packard introduced the first “pocket” calculator, singer Don McLean released his anthem song American Pie and gas stations hired people to fill your gas tank.

And 1972 was the same year when two wild-eyed, idealistic and ambitious kids decided to take over a local sandwich shop on Beach Street in Saco. Today, that business is celebrating its 50-year anniversary.

Mark Johnston was 20 years old when he and Beth Johnston decided to take over the Vic & Whit’s sandwich shop near the intersection of Beach and James streets. They knew the owners were ready to throw in the proverbial towel, and despite their youth and inexperience Mark and Beth decided to follow their dreams.

“At that time, it was pretty much an empty store,” Mark explained. “We decided to keep the name because it had pretty much become a local brand.”

The name Vic & Whit’s comes from the prior owners’ last names: Sophie Victor and Walter Whitworth. Mark and Beth were too young to secure a beer and liquor permit on their own, and many people thought (and some hoped) that these “hippie” kids would fail within 30 days of opening. They were facing an uphill climb.

“At first, we thought it might be a good location for a pet store,” Beth said. “But my mother thought that that maybe we should stick with sandwiches.”

“We had to grow up in a big hurry,” Mark added. “My mother went to the bank to get us a $1,500 loan.”

Beth’s mother gave them a freezer and a cast-iron frying pan. With that, the young couple was off to the races, which got off to a somewhat bumpy start.

“As I recall, our first day in business was sort of crazy,” Beth recalls. “It was me, Mark and three of our friends from Thornton Academy, one of whom was still on crutches. We had never made an Italian sandwich before. We just dug in and worked hard.”

Mark and Beth took a short break around 4 p.m. on that first day. “We walked to the Dairy Queen, and I just sat down on the curb and cried,” Beth said. “I was just overwhelmed. I kept asking myself what did I get myself into?”

So how did these young and relatively inexperienced business owners make it?

“We were very frugal and we worked very long hours,” Mark said. “We literally worked 18 hours per day, seven days a week.”

Mark and Beth found themselves on a good business trajectory, but there were still some steep hurdles they had to jump. Mark landed in trouble with the Internal Revenue Service.

 “I had no idea what I was doing,” he said. “I ended up borrowing more money to settle the IRS issue.”

Furthermore, Phil Snyder, the owner of the nearby Beachway Market, put pressure on Mark and Beth to sell him their store because he wanted to eliminate the competition, Mark said.

The decision to open a second location on Main Street in Saco was not initially planned to be a simple expansion. The Main Street location had previously been a bakery. Mark and Beth had begun buying their sandwich rolls from a small bakery in Springvale.

Eventually, the local baker grew tired of driving all the way to Saco just to deliver to Vic & Whit’s, so he made the young owners an offer they could not resist. He would give them the recipe and rent them the space and equipment in Springvale.

“Back then, we were open until 11 at night,” Beth said. “After finishing a long day at the store, we would drive to Springvale and spend another three to four hours baking bread. Sure, we had youthful energy, but youth or no youth, it quickly became an untenable situation.”

There was not enough room at the Beach Street store to bake bread, so in 1975, the couple leased the space on Main Street in Saco. “We got all of the baking equipment at auction,” Mark said. “It feels like yesterday.”

It was the same year that Beth and Mark were married. The couple divorced almost 20 years later, but they still work as a close-knit team.

 “Some people thought I was crazy to be working with my husband,” Beth said with a laugh. “But a lot more people thought I was nuts to keep working with my ex-husband.”

Mark said the secret to the store’s success involved “working hard, being flexible and keeping up with the times.”

Beth said, it was the sense of family that kept her focused.

 “It’s a family connection,” she said. “Our kids were part of this business. They grew up here. It’s a part of us. It will always be a part of us.”

In retrospect, Main Street in Saco had a much different landscape in the mid-‘70s. Well-known and once popular businesses have since closed or been sold.

In 1975, you could still see a movie at the Mutual Theater, buy furniture at Atkinson’s, enjoy a cheeseburger and pick up your prescriptions at Percy’s Pharmacy and lunch counter. Rapid Ray’s was still on wheels and the Men’s Store was still the best place to buy your suits and dress shirts.

As the years went on, the landscape of downtown Saco continued to change, but Vic & Whit’s was steadily becoming an institution and building a reputation for offering its customers high quality food products with fast customer service. In 1986, Mark and Beth opted to close the Beach Street store and focus all of their energy on the Main Street location.

More than just a sandwich shop

Eventually, a decision was made to stop baking bread in the rear of the Main Street store. Mark and Beth had young children and there just wasn’t enough time to take care of the kids, run a small-scale bakery and a sandwich shop. Something had to give.

But while Vic & Whit’s became increasingly popular, one of the store’s owners began to develop a bit of his own notoriety in the city of Saco.

“I was always interested in politics,” Mark said. “I dreamed of going to Washington D.C.”

Although he never ran for a federal seat, Mark was becoming increasingly frustrated by some of the things he saw happening in his hometown, most notably the decision to locate a trash-to-energy incinerator, just over the bridge in downtown Biddeford.

He said the decision to place the Maine Energy Recovery (MERC) facility in downtown Biddeford had a “huge impact” on small businesses located on each side of the river. The days of downtown shopping seemed to be coming to a close.

Meanwhile, two of the area’s largest downtown businesses, the Saco Tannery Company and a Nike Shoe manufacturing plant had both closed. Mark said employees from those businesses would regularly visit his shop at lunchtime.

“The economy was not doing well,” he said. “A lot of people, especially local leaders, seemed to be giving up hope on ever having a thriving downtown again.”

Mark spent as much time as he could on his political interests, attending city council meetings in both Biddeford and Saco, meeting individually with city councilors and making his opinions known during public meetings.

Finally, he decided to throw his hat into the ring and ran for the mayor’s seat in 1989 as a Republican, unopposed in the primary.

“The establishment of both parties weren’t happy about my candidacy,” he said with a laugh.

Although he was unopposed in the primary, Johnston lost that election by a mere two votes because of a local ordinance that required a minimum number of votes.

“A lot of my supporters didn’t bother to vote in the primary because I was unopposed and they mistakenly thought I was all set,” Johnston said.

 True to form, Johnston didn’t take the loss lying down. He decided to run as a write-in candidate.

 “The Democrats didn’t want me,” he said. “I didn’t fit in with the establishment.”

Beth supported her husband’s bid for political office.

 “We literally had to teach people how to vote for a write-in candidate,” she said. “We took nothing for granted.”

Mark won the election over Elizabeth DeSimone, who had the backing of the political establishment. DeSimone requested a recount and Mark said there were some underhanded things taking place as part of a coordinated effort to keep him out of City Hall.

Mark ultimately prevailed, and with minutes of being sworn into office in January 1990, he filed a lawsuit against the owners of the MERC incinerator.

He went on to serve seven terms as Saco’s mayor and one term as a city councilor. “I was never bashful about sharing my opinions,” he said. He laughed. “I think people knew that I was a straight shooter.”

The popular Main Street sandwich shop quickly became the epicenter of Saco (and Biddeford) politics.

“Mark quickly became the most accessible mayor ever,” Beth said. “All sorts of people would stop by to talk with him about various issues and concerns.”

Beth is also active in local government and currently represents her ward on the school board.

Even as Mark’s political activities flourished, Vic & Whit’s also changed with the times. A 1983 fire destroyed three storefronts, including the Olympia Fruit Company, adjacent to Vic & Whit’s. Mark and Beth decided to use the now leveled parcel to open what they called the Rendezvous Point Outdoor Café, from 1983 to 1985.

“Nobody was really offering outdoor dining at the time,” Beth said. “We were ahead of the times.”

Eventually, the Main Street store was expanded. Mark and Beth decided to add a wine shop, and they also bought the building.

Today, as consumers are developing a desire for sustainable and locally-crafted foods, coffees and beer, Beth has become a bit of a wine expert.

 “There is definitely a growing interest in locally sourced products,” she said. “But I wouldn’t call myself a wine expert by any measure. There’s just so much to learn.”

Beth focuses on stocking wines from small, independent wineries. She has visited France to meet with the owners of selected vineyards, and said there is great satisfaction in working with other small business owners.

 “It becomes a very personal thing when you’re literally talking with the person who is making the wine,” she said.

It’s been 50 years since Mark and Beth decided to open a small sandwich shop on Beach Street. A lot has changed since then.

“We saw it as an opportunity, as a vision back in the ‘70s,” Mark said. “Today, it’s amazing to look back. We’re now serving third-generation customers. Their grandparents bought our sandwiches, their parents became customers and now they are customers. That is so satisfying.”

Beth said that the satisfaction is about much more than just the business.

 “For me, it’s really personal,” she explained. “It’s about the people, our customers and even our vendors. Most of my friends fit into those two categories.”

So, what’s next for Mark and Beth? What’s next for Vic & Whit’s?

“I want to retire. Soon,” Mark said. “Ideally, I’d like to find someone to take over and run this store the same way. To continue doing what we are trying to do every day. This is the true version of a mom and pop operation. I hope that can continue.”

Beth paused when asked what she would like to do next.

“I think Mark always had an exit plan, but I never made one,” she said. “I guess that I never thought that I would arrive at this point.”

Randy Seaver can be contacted at randy@randyseaver.com