Days Store
the place to meet — or eat
by Laura Romano
Central Maine Newspapers
This July 2004 article is reprinted here in its entirety.
As much a social center as it is an economic one, Day's Store has served the needs of the surrounding community for decades by supplying everything that might be needed from fudge to propane to gifts. "People like to stop and chat while they shop," said Diane Day Oliver, who owns the store with her husband, Kerry. "This is the type of store where you are likely to run into people you know."
Tucked between Long Pond and Great Pond, Day's is as easy to reach by boat from either lake as it is by Route 27, which runs through the village center. Docks on the Long Pond side make a stop at Day's especially attractive and many boaters pause to sit at the store's picnic tables and enjoy a view of the lake while partaking of one of the pizzas that Day's is known for.
Diane recalls that it w as the spring of 1958 when her parents and her father's parents came to Belgrade and purchased the store from a relative. The store had been closed for a while and the Days thought it would be a good business opportunity.
Diane began working at the store when she was 14 or 15. She worked in the gift shop at first, and she remembers taking trips with her mother to buy items that would be sold there.
After going to college and earning a teaching degree, Diane taught school for one year and then learned that her parents were planning to sell the store. She and Kerry decided that they wanted the business to stay in the family, and they worked in the store with Diane's parents from 1981 until they eventually retired in 1997. Since Diane and Kerry have owned the store, they have expanded the bakery as well as the deli.
One popular item at Day's is the homemade fudge. marketed under the name "Meggie O's Fudge," the store offers 18 to 24 flavors of the sweet treat on any given day.
"Fifteen years ago we saw the fudge at a show and thought it would be a great item to have in the store," Diane said. "My father said that the fudge would be what would send Megan, my oldest daughter, off to collect so we named the fudge line after her." (Megan will begin her freshman year of college this fall.)
Currently, Diane spends one to two days per week making 200 to 400 pounds of fudge per day. Although ech of the flavors has a good following, chocolate walnut is the best selling flavor, followed by chocolate peanut butter.
Besides the delightfully appealing fudge counter, the store boasts a full deli and an appetizing array of sandwiches and pizza. A large variety of snacks is available to accompany any meal. There is a gift shop at the back of the store that features Yankee Candles, Boyds Bears and many Maine-made collecitbles. Fishing licenses are available at the counter, and the store also offers propane and gas for cars and boats.
"We love running the store," Diane sayid. "It's different every day. When I drive into the village each morning I think of how lucky we are to live and work in such a quaint, pretty town."
