• Headquarters: Waterville, ME

• Founder: Mickey Marden

• Employees: 850

• Stores: 14

• Slogan: I should have bought it, when I saw it, at Marden's!

• Founded: 1964

• Website:  mardens.com

STORY:

More than 35 years ago Mickey Marden started a business with one simple philosophy: buy great stuff and sell it cheap. That's it. His only rule was "Don't buy anything you have to feed."

He thought of himself more as a treasure hunter than a retailer. He found goods in some unlikely places and in ways regular retailers would consider unusual: bankruptcy courts, train wrecks, salvage losses, floods, earthquakes, small fires, and the overflowing warehouses of the country's finest manufacturers.

When he started, he was working out of a small Fairfield auction house. People bought the goods he'd bring in. They told their friends, and those friends told their friends, and pretty soon he opened his first store in Waterville. Today they sell bargains from Sanford to Presque Isle. The company is always expanding, but they stay focused on what got them there: bargains. They've got a lot of merchandise at great prices. Their goal is, item for item, nobody will beat their price, and that's the truth.

Today, Marden's off-price empire spans the state of Maine with 14 stores. The company has more than 800 employees and gross sales of more than $70 million. Mickey stayed involved in the company until his passing on November 4, 2002— Operations are now in the hands of his childrens: Harold Jr., David, John and Nancy. Although the offerings constantly change at Marden's, the company maintains a focus on some key merchandise, including shoes, clothing, hardware and, in some stores, furniture and building material.

COMMENTARY:

Marden's has been a favorite destination of our family for years! At Marden's you can find anything. They have tools, kitchen supplies, health & beauty products, toys, clothing, bed & bath & things, cookware, furniture, carpet, shoes, seasonal, Christmas, Halloween, and much more at bargain clearance prices.  Of course the selection and prices may vary depending on the time of the year and the store you go to. The selection vary depending on what they find. They buy closeouts, store returns, and pallets of good stuff but maybe the stock on the corner of the pallet is damaged and the national chain don't want to waste time to sort the good and the broken merchandise.  So they sell these pallets to Surplus and Salvage stores like Marden's and we get a better price for good stuff.

Two new stores were opened in former Ames locations, Ellsworth and Houlton. Marden's acquired Waterville's former Walmart store and turned into one of Marden's flagship store. This 93,188 sq.ft. store has everything under one roof and replaces Marden's original store which was much smaller and cramped. This new building is designed for retail and is better displayed. Aisles are wider and merchandise is easy to locate. The nicest Marden's yet! Marden's then opened its 13th store in a former Ames in Madawaska. Another store opened in Rumford also in a former Ames. On June 12, 2010, Marden's opened in the former Walmart store in Scarborough. The 119,000 square feet store is the largest in the chain.  In 2023, Marden's closed a store for the first time. The Rumford location closed du to issues with the building in was located in. In March 2025, it announced a return to the region by scooping up the former Big Lots space at the Mount Blue Shopping Center in Farmington.

STORE LOCATIONS:

• Biddeford ME

• Brewer ME

• Calais ME

• Ellsworth ME

• Gray ME

• Houlton ME

• Lewiston ME

• Lincoln ME

• Presque Isle ME

• Scarborough ME

• Sanford ME

• Waterville ME

• Madawaska ME

• Farmington ME (opening May 2025)

• Rumford ME  (closed 2023)

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Disclaimer: For the most up-to-date information about Marden's, visit their official website

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