Employees of the now-closed Marden’s store in Rumford hold a banner provided by the town on Wednesday at the Rumford Town Hall. The employees were at the hall for a briefing with Maine Department of Labor on benefits they are entitled to due to the sudden closure of the store Jan. 11. Town of Rumford photo

RUMFORD — Town officials said Thursday night that the effort to keep Marden’s in Rumford in continuing.

“I want the citizens to know that we’re working very hard to keep them here,” Town Manager Stacy Carter told selectmen at their meeting. “We have been in regular contact with the property owner, with Marden’s, as well as managers of all the remaining businesses in the (Route 2) plaza.”

He said after the Facebook announcement of the closure on Jan. 11 by Marden’s officials, “We immediately made arrangements with the Department of Labor and offered the auditorium so they could assist those employees affected.”

Carter said, “There’s a lot of negativity out there in the community that the town is not doing enough or anything to keep them from being closed. We’re working very hard to either keep them in the same location or, if need be, in a new location. We’ll continue until all efforts are exhausted.”

Marden’s officials announced Jan. 11 that the store on Route 2 in Rumford was closing due to unspecified safety reasons. WGME photo

Rumford Economic Development Director George O’Keefe said the town was working to solve Marden’s issues with their site “long before this got to a point that it did. I’m profoundly saddened that some of our best workers and one of our best employers were forced out due to circumstances outside of their control.”

He said Rumford began a campaign — #RumfordLovesMarden’s — “because this is about keeping one of our best employers in this town, one way or another, whether it’s at their current location or not. That is the focus on the positive message and the relationship that we have had with this company in this community for 15 years.”

Selectman Jim Theriault said, “We should be doing all we can to help them.”

“Please don’t listen to the negative comments on Facebook. Just be positive and help us to keep that ball rolling,”  Selectman Frank DiConzo added.

The Facebook post by Marden’s stated, “In our nearly 60 years, we have never closed a store. While 2022 was a very successful year company-wide, our hands were tied by the landlord’s inaction to deal with ongoing, major safety concerns. We would welcome the opportunity to return to the Rumford area in the future if a suitable retail location can be found.”

Marden’s is a family-owned chain of 14 retail stores throughout Maine. It was founded in 1964, and has become a popular Maine landmark and popular shopping spot. Store operators purchase overstocks, closeouts, insurance losses, liquidations, salvage deals, discontinued items and other deals across the country to sell at discounted prices.