Hometown Soup & Salad at 884 Lisbon St. in Lewiston closed the first week in February. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Owner Stefanie Pike said business at Hometown Soup & Salad was great and the community was very supportive, but she and her husband closed the fledgling quick serve restaurant at 884 Lisbon St. the first week in February, a year after opening. She said it’s prime hockey season and they wanted to focus on their children and her corporate career.

The business remains set up and is actively for sale, which might make a great opportunity for an entrepreneur looking for a turnkey operation. Hometown Soup & Salad offered a rotating list of soups and salad by the pound, sweet and savory crepe “sandwiches” and wraps.

Online reviews were mostly positive, giving the spot a thumbs up for being a healthy option for lunch, good service and good food. Oh, and the names for the crepe sandwiches such as “penalty box” and “slap shot” were obviously tied to the family’s love of hockey.

Lee Auto Mall to get a facelift

The entrance to the service department at Lee Plymouth Dodge Ram Jeep at 765 Center St. in Auburn will undergo a facelift starting in April. Christopher Wheelock/Sun Journal

It was a risky move in the 1960s, when Shep Lee moved his father’s DeSoto-Plymouth dealership to Center Street, which was then just a two-lane road. There was no mall, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge wasn’t built and it was surrounded by farms.

The original building for Lee Auto Mall was built in 1959, and while executive partner Bill Menke said it’s been a highly productive building, it’s time for a facelift.

An artist’s rendering of the planned new façade at Lee Auto Mall on Center Street in Auburn. Submitted photo

What is now the Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, Jeep dealership will be getting a new look for the service center entrance, to include a state-of-the-art customer lounge and drive-in service center entrance. Think lots of glass and a very modern look like some of the other Lee dealerships sport.

Menke said they hope to break ground in mid-April and be ready before Thanksgiving.

Breeana Tucci, foreground, shampoos a customer’s hair while Christina Tucci, background, cuts a customer’s hair Thursday in their new salon at 1065 Sabattus St. in Lewiston Christopher Wheelock/Sun Journal

Tucci + Co. Salon has more growing pains

Hair we grow again! Owners Christina and Breeana Tucci have set up shop in a new location, but close to the most recent one in the former Black Shark building at 938 Sabattus St.

The new salon is at 1065 Sabattus St. and the owners said the first big improvement customers have already noticed is the ample parking. The shop is at the corner of Pond Road, where there is a stoplight.

The new salon is about 2,700 square feet, more than double the old salon’s 1,200 square feet, Christina Tucci said. That also means they have seven people working there seven days a week.

A unique aspect of Tucci + Co. is it’s a mixture of skill sets to meet almost any customer’s needs. There are two barbers — Christina is one — three cosmetologists, including Breeana, one apprentice cosmetologist and a new nail technician.

They have one empty chair for anyone interested and an entire room that will become either home to a new aesthetician, who typically do facials, waxing and skin treatments, or a massage therapist.

It’s sounding more like a spa all the time, one of their goals all along.

The couple started their business in the fall of 2020 in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic in a 400-square-foot space.

Christina Tucci said business is great and unfortunately that means, for now, bookings are by appointment only. The salon is on Facebook and Instagram, or can be reached at 207-740-9098.

The Buzz offers quick hits about trending area business happenings. Have a Buzzable tip? Contact business writer Christopher Wheelock at 689-2817 or cwheelock@sunjournal.com