The former Club Texas in Auburn is now the Sapphire Nightclub and Event Center.

Or it will be, as soon as the new owners get the new floor down.

Jeremy Fitts said he and girlfriend Amanda Cloutier are shooting for an Oct. 17 opening.

Fitts, a regular DJ at the Pearl Lounge in Portland, said they’ve ripped out the old carpet and tile and plan to install new tile, a VIP staging area with a private bartender and bottle service, and to paint the dance floor.

“I am hoping to give the experience of a NYC- or Montreal-style nightclub when they walk through the doors,” he said. “I have a major light show coming in, and me and my brother will be the DJs, as well as other guest DJs.”

Sapphire will have live bands once a week with rotating genres, including a comedy night. And classes will be offered: Zumba on Mondays, hip-hop dance on Wednesdays, line dancing Thursdays and salsa/Latin dance on Friday nights.

He also plans to market the spot as a site for wedding receptions.

“Saturday nights are the Ladies Nights with a dress code; (it) doesn’t have to be suit and tie, but normal clothes are fine,” Fitts said.

Reading between the lines: pants not optional.

High-end launch

After years of dreaming and planning, Dianna Pozdniakov’s first collection of high-end SofiaFima handbags went live online last week.

Pozdniakov is a New York City architect who moved to Lewiston with her husband in 2014. The Sun Journal wrote about her plans last March and her hopes to incorporate the area’s manufacturing history into SofiaFima’s future.

The line is being made in New York with leather from a New York tannery, she said. The prices range from a $4,500 metallic stingray leather Sofia clutch to a $175 card case.

“My goal is to introduce a Maine line of bags, similar to the N.Y. line in terms of the leather being sourced from Maine and the production happening in Maine, but it would be a more attainable price point,” Pozdniakov said this week. “I need to see how successful the SofiaFima Essentials collection will be and then I can move on to the second line of Maine-made bags. One step at a time! But that is the vision.”

Ribbons will be cut

Officials are celebrating Agren’s reopening on Friday after a six-month, $800,000 renovation at 40 Minot Ave.

Agren is Maine’s largest independent retailer of appliances and mattresses, according to a news release.

The store has more parking and more windows, a spokeswoman said, along with a roomier mattress showroom on the second floor with more than 45 models on display.

The company is marking the reopening with contest giveaways and a donation to the Lewiston Regional Technical Center’s Green Ladle Culinary Arts School.

Breakfast awaits 

Hold the syrup just a little longer: An IHOP spokesman said this week that the new franchise in Auburn is estimated to open in mid-October.

The developer received two city permits last month to remodel the former T.G.I.Fridays, with construction estimated at $90,000 for exterior work and $210,000 for interior work. 

Those banana crepes with Nutella and New York cheesecake pancakes are close, so close.

Quick hits about business comings, goings and happenings. Have a Buzzable tip? Contact staff writer Kathryn Skelton at 689-2844 or kskelton@sunjournal.com.