A fellow by the name of Leon Leonwood Bean put Maine on the retail map back in 1912, and credit-card-toting visitors have been pounding their way along the coast ever since in search of good values. In terms of shopping, Maine is really about three things: bargains, antiques, and fine arts and crafts. The outlets that have sprouted up around the store that L.L. Bean founded in Freeport and those located down in Kittery are among the best in the nation. And the state also has some native job lot favorites like Marden’s and Renys, discount department store chains where trucks pull in from all over carrying everything under the sun at sometimes ridiculously low prices. Some people have an almost devotional attachment to these places and visit daily, and houseguests always want to get to one of them during their stay.
Because Mainers have long been pack rats and the state has its share of historic homes, and simply because there’s tourist demand, Maine has quite the antiques culture—it’s no surprise that one of the biggest and best national periodicals on the subject got its start here—Maine Antique Digest—and that some of the region’s largest antiques shows happen here. Auctions, a great place to find older items at affordable prices, are a Maine tradition, too—some people go just for entertainment. Antiques lovers will find a lot to love just by staying on U.S. Route 1, and they’ll want to be certain to hit Wells, Wiscasset, the Damariscotta area, and Searsport, all of which have developed reputations as repositories of the good and old.
And craftspeople, aware of the “Made in Maine” mystique, have turned the Pine Tree State into a nice place to hunt for more high-end items as well. Visit Camden, for example, if you’re looking for fine jewelry, as there is an unusually high concentration of gold- and silversmiths in that Penobscot Bay town and its neighbors. Deer Isle is a good place to go if you’re looking for ceramics, thanks to the Haystack School of Arts and Crafts, and Greater Portland has finely made furnishings.
There are a few towns, such as Kittery and Freeport; a few districts, like Portland’s Old Port and downtown Bar Harbor; and even a few legendary stores, like the Big Chicken Barn in Ellsworth, that are absolutely can’t-miss with shoppers. But there are many lesser-known gems scattered along the coast in unexpected places, which makes shopping in Maine always an adventure.
Most shops are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and closed Sunday, except the big chain stores and the Maine Mall, which tend to be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Good luck.
Artists of all sorts have drawn inspiration from the Maine coast. Painters were among the first tourists to discover its beauties, and some of the biggest names in American art have worked here. The state has an unusually high number of writers who have called it home as well. And for a rural state with few urban centers, there are a surprising number of world-class classical music festivals and schools.
When the affluent summercators moved north to places like Kennebunk and Bar Harbor for the season, you see, they didn’t want to leave behind all the culture they’d grown accustomed to. So they brought it with them. Summer theater, summer concerts, summer dance—all have long traditions on the Maine coast. The resort communities seem almost as busy as Portland in the summer.
The state was once famous for its art colonies in Ogunquit, Monhegan, and Bar Harbor, and that heritage is carried on today as well. There are several galleries along the coast with artworks on their walls that can compete with the big guns in New York. You just have to look.
Unfortunately, the state still doesn’t have much in the way of a live music scene—there’s just no comparing Portland’s nightlife to places like Boston, even on a per capita basis—but if you’re lucky you might be in town when a good show is scheduled. We do have a large number of great downtown cinemas, though, where you can catch the arty films before they become national sensations, and plenty of soulless multiplexes as well.
Culture? We got culture.