By David Harry

Staff Writer

As John Marden watched shoppers in the aisles of the newly opened store Friday, he said he noticed one thing.

“Almost every customer has something in their cart,” Marden said barely an hour after the 119,000-square-foot Marden’s Surplus and Salvage store opened in the former Wal-Mart location on Payne Road.

By 9 a.m., customers, alerted to the opening of the newest in the 15-store chain through Facebook or news accounts, scoured the alphabet soup of inventory ranging from carpets to fishing lures to pet supplies.

Scarborough resident Isabelle Reali arrived ready to shop about five minutes before Assistant Manager Craig Nadeau opened the doors – though she did not know what she was looking to buy.

“I never know what I want until I get here,” Reali said about browsing through inventory that comes from bankruptcy settlements, fires, disasters or overstocks.

The opening was sudden, Marden said, and came as soon as the store received a town occupancy permit. The process of setting up the store took much longer, and tested the patience of loyal customers such as South Portland resident Betsy Tibbetts.

Tibbetts has been a vocal supporter of the store coming to Scarborough since last September, when she implored planning board members to grant quick approval for proposed renovation work.

Because the former Wal-Mart store site was included as part of the Scarborough Gateway project that included a new Wal-Mart, a Lowe’s home improvement store and several restaurants, it required planning board approval for work on the store exterior and parking areas.

Town Planner Dan Bacon said a traffic study along Payne Road will be conducted this summer, and a new right turn lane into the store may be added.

Planning board approval came too late for the store to open for last winter’s holiday season, and negotiations to buy the former Wal-Mart store stalled as well, said Marden’s General Manager (and gubernatorial candidate) Paul LePage in an interview last winter.

Tibbetts and her friends from Casco Bay Quilters made a beeline for the fabric department after congratulating store manager Bryan Seeley on the opening. Seeley has been working at the store since January and routinely heard from Tibbetts, she said.

“I have not bought any fabric, unless absolutely necessary, and poor Bryan has been pestered and pestered by me,” Tibbetts said.

Tibbetts and club member Judy Clough said they had been shopping at the Sanford Marden’s store until now in search of fabric to make quilts for organizations such as Project Linus, the Center for Grieving Children and recuperating wounded veterans.

On the wall above the fabric section are quilts made by club members the chain to resell to raise money to benefit those causes. It is a way Marden’s helps communities with little fanfare, Tibbetts said.

“They don’t look for any recognition,” she said.

Seeley said the store will employ a staff of 120 to 130, and some of the first employees have come from other Marden’s stores to lend a hand.

“A lot of hard work goes into an opening, and everyone worked together very well,” Seeley said.

A lot of money went into the remodeling, Marden said, including about $260,000 spent on a new exterior façade.

Using Facebook to generate a buzz was his son Jake’s idea, said Marden. The effort seemed successful, and Portland resident Collette Fortin said she had never visited the social networking site before checking in for news on the store opening.

Fortin, also a quilter, arrived with her husband, Maurice Fortin, who said he hopes the store may someday stock inventory for his model railroad hobby.

As he greeted customers, Nadeau said the opening was a long time coming for him as well.

“We have been ready for a month,” Nadeau said.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219