New community convenience store, Provisions, now open to serve the Waterville community at its Main Street location
Making Provisions to further serve their community ... The new Provisions community convenience store is now open on Main Street in Waterville, with a Grand Opening planned for February 14. Owners Clark White and Christopher Jordan, left to right in the above photo, stand among the multitude of items available at the new store for area residents and visitors, hoping to be of further service to their Waterville community with this new venture. Photo by Kelli Boylen.
Now open on Main Street in Waterville ... Clark White and Christopher Jordan, left to right, stand outside the location of their latest venture in Waterville, Provisions. The community convenience store is located at 56 Main Street in Waterville, the location of the former U.S. Post Office building in Waterville. Photo by Kelli Boylen.
by Kelli Boylen
Residents of Waterville now have a convenient place to pick up a few things they may need, thanks to Provisions.
Provisions is a community convenience store recently opened at 56 Main Street in Waterville by Clark White and Christopher Jordan. They describe Provisions as a mini-market serving the needs of area residents and visitors.
The store has both perishable and non-perishable items, including milk, bread, eggs and butter, along with baking supplies, cleaning supplies and canned goods.
Christopher and Clark welcome feedback from customers to improve and provide a product assortment that mirrors community members’ wants. “The reaction so far has been positive,” says Clark. “We really appreciate that, and want to learn and support what our community needs.”
In a time when many small towns are retracting and have less to offer, Christopher and Clark are among those who take a bigger picture approach in focusing on what a small town needs. “It’s easy to look at things like this, to see why it won’t work and write off a town as dying,” says Clark.
Rather than ponder why to start such a business, Christopher says that their approach comes more from the perspective of “Why Not?”, and from that lens they figure out how to make an idea work. Christopher says of their community involvement, “We don’t have all the answers, but we certainly want to be part of the solution.”
Clark grew up near Waterville and after decades of being away, he and Christopher moved back. “In every place we have lived we have become involved. It’s second nature for us to figure out ways to become part of the community,” Clark says.
Christopher adds, “It’s about being good stewards of the community, building connections and being of service.”
They are considering possibly adding candy and soda to their merchandise, as well as potentially adding a daily lunch take-out meal. “We hope the community gives us grace as we figure things out, as we want to make this venture a good thing for everyone,” they shared.
Christopher and Clark had the idea of a convenience store in Waterville for several years, but the COVID-19 pandemic slowed things down. They worked with another local community member, Diane Rathbun, to make the store a reality. Diane and her late husband, Kurt, own the former post office building in Waterville where the store is now located, and had previously used it for storage space.
Diane renovated the entire building, paving the way for this new mixed-use commercial space. Clark and Christopher lease the ground floor from Diane for their two businesses, Integrity Management Consulting Corp and, now, Provisions.
Provisions is now open, and they will be holding a Grand Opening event Monday, February 14. The store’s regular hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.
