By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

Peter Scontras looked across the Way Way Store with tears in his eyes and a smile on his face. 

“Look at that kid on the box. He’s never been on that box before,” he said. “It’s like the passing of the torch. In a sense, he’s been baptized.” 

Minutes after Scontras posted a simple message online that the Saco store had reopened, customers paused in wonder at the door as they took in a place that in many ways hasn’t changed. Children stepped onto an overturned soda box to survey the candy case, just as their parents and grandparents did for decades. 

With the help of volunteers, Scontras spent the past four months preparing to reopen the store remembered fondly by generations of locals who stopped in to carefully choose penny candy and visit with the Cousens family. Scontras said the community grieved when the store closed in October 2003. 

Eugene “Gene” Cousens built the Way Way Store with his son, Carroll “Caddy” Cousens, from 1927 to 1929. They used a single mold to make each of the red and white cement blocks that give the store on Buxton Road its distinctive look. It was named for its location “way, way” outside downtown Saco. 

Many locals remember buying candy from Gene Cousens’ daughter, Peggy Cousens Tyrell, and her niece, Catherine Cousens. Scontras leases the store from the Cousens family. 

The Way Way Store now features an ice cream counter and tables with chairs. Many of the antique and vintage decorations sit in the same places they occupied for years. The front window displays an assortment of papers, photos and items that show the store’s history.

Fans took to Facebook to share their memories and enthusiasm after word got around that Scontras was fixing up the store to sell candy, ice cream, grocery items and canoes. Many reminisced about standing on a soda box to see candy in the back of the case and the friendly women behind the counter who made them feel like the most important customer of the day. 

On Friday, 6-year-old Baylee Cheetham-Wilmot of Biddeford bounded through the front door and hopped onto one of the original soda boxes Scontras found in the store. Peering through the glass, he carefully selected an assortment of gummy bears, gummy dinosaurs, taffy and candy buttons. 

Cheetham-Wilmot and his older sister, Zowie, picked out their candy while their grandmother, Jen Gott, watched with a smile. She said she used to bring their mother to the store and was excited to share the same experience with her grandchildren. 

Katelyn McKenzie, 13, of Saco, remembered going to the Way Way Store once when she was young, so when she drove past and saw the open sign she was eager to go again. 

“She came home and said ‘we need to go to the Way Way Store,’” said her mother, Kristyn McKenzie, who went to the store as a child to buy Swedish fish. 

“I lived down the street and used to ride by bike up here. I remember the cute little old ladies behind the counter,” she said. “It just feels great, the nostalgia of going back to when we were kids. To share that with my children is great.” 

Claire Bouffard of Saco brought her grandchildren, Andrew and Audrey Holmquist, to pick out candy for themselves and their cousins, Abby and Cameron Bouffard. She described her own history with the store as she watched her grandchildren smile over their candy selections.

“I came as a kid and I used to bring my children when they were this age,” she said. “It’s just the novelty candy and the uniqueness of the place that make it special. I’m just thrilled it’s reopened. It’s a landmark for Saco.” 

The new girls behind the Way Way counter were just as excited for the reopening as their customers. Wearing bright red shirts, they were all smiles as they popped two gummy bears or three Swedish fish at a time into small paper bags. 

“I really liked it as a kid. I remember coming here and I liked the old ladies who worked here,” said Amanda Bourque, 16, of Saco, from her spot behind the ice cream counter. She and her sister, Alyssa, will both spend the summer working at the store. 

Scontras, a retired teacher, said his staff is comprised mostly of former students who read about his project and approached him for jobs. For 18-year-old Rachel Christian of Saco, the summer job will allow her to recapture the excitement of visiting the store.
  “I moved here right before it closed. I was really excited and it was so sad to see it close,” she said. “I love it here. It’s a good business to be in. Who doesn’t want to sell candy and make people happy?”

Seeing smiling faces walk through the door was all the thanks Scontras needed for the months he spent cleaning and repairing a local landmark that many feared was closed forever.

Scontras sat at the ice cream counter and greeted customers as they came through the door. His favorite Andrews Sisters played softly on the radio and car horns tooted as people spied the open sign. 

“This is the day that will forever live in our memories of wonderful events,” he said. 

He looked down at his phone and smiled as he realized dozens of people had left messages on the store’s Facebook page thanking him for bringing back the Way Way Store. 

“I’m very, very touched. What can you say? I just wanted to sell canoes and people talked us into doing this,” he said. 

The project was not just a labor of love for him, he said, but for the volunteers who donated their time and skills to making it a reality. 

“You can’t undertake a project like this alone. I had no question we could do it,” he said. “The Way Way Store for us was a mighty, mighty task. We never got discouraged. We never though it wouldn’t come to pass.” 

When Scontras needed to think about the project’s next step, he would sit alone in the store. He said he often thought of the Cousens family and the way they treated their customers.

“The Cousens family always treated us well. I think of their cheerfulness, the way they helped customers. I didn’t want to let them down,” he said. “A lot of the memories are of how Peggy and Catherine did things, the way they persevered. They had been through a lot of difficult times and were true Mainers. You don’t want to desecrate that legacy. If anything, you want to respect it and enhance upon it.” 

Though he kept many original items in the store – including the cash register and candy counter – Scontras added the ice cream counter and windows. He hopes the community will feel welcome to sit down to enjoy an ice cream or cup of coffee. He also is anxious to hear feedback from customers as he continues to add new products. 

Scontras said he showed the store to Catherine Cousens’ granddaughter before he reopened. 

“She thought it was a great job. I was pleased to hear that because we tried to remain faithful to the legacy the Cousens family has built up with this store,” Scontras said as the chatter of customers filled the store. “It’s part of our heritage. This is who we are.” 

The Way Way Store is open 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1 to 9 p.m. Sunday.

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.