A student favorite sandwich shop is continuing its successful growth by opening another location in Brewer, according to Keith Manaker, one of the owners of Harvest Moon Deli.
“We will be opening our third store in the Twin City Plaza shopping center,” Manaker said. “We like this location in Brewer because it is located very close to a number of anchor stores, it is across the street from another very busy plaza, there is good visibility, and excellent parking.”
The deli has come a long way since opening its first location in Orono.
“Harvest Moon started out eight years ago in Orono,” he said. “We waited seven years before opening our second store located in Bangor. The second store opening has gone well. We are very happy with the reception we received by the Bangor community. People seem to be responding positively to our concept.”
With awards from the Bangor Metro magazine for best sandwich lining the walls of the deli and the amount of praise from its customers, it is no surprise the deli is continuing to grow.
“It has the best food in Orono and the sandwiches are awesome,” Nora Cecere, a fourth-year child development student, said.
Manaker said they are planning on Brewer not being the only city getting a new Harvest Moon Deli.
“My partner and I have a long-term goal of opening many more Harvest Moon Delis throughout the state of Maine,” he said. “Our initial plan is to continue to try to identify nearby communities that we think would respond well to our sandwich concept. We believe Brewer is one of those communities.”
The response from the public and the welcoming environment has been one of the key benefits for Harvest Moon Deli, according to Manaker.
“In general, all of the small communities around here are extremely business friendly,” he said. “They work very cooperatively with entrepreneurs to help them get through the process of starting a new business. They are generally very enthusiastic about seeing new businesses coming to town. When the public sees a new business around here, they are usually very supportive of it.”
From the line of students at lunchtime at the Orono location, the UMaine community is certainly eager to keep supporting one of their favorite eateries.