Shopping in Westbrook

Family patriarch Nordy Rockler opened the doors of his first store in 1954 to supply his fellow craftsmen with knowledge, friendly advice, and a large selection of tools for at-home woodworking projects. Now, the chain of retail outlets brims with more than 20,000 tools and specialized woodworking equipment. Next to a steely rainbow of hinges, casters, and screws, a supply of lumber and exotic hardwoods provides planks for building tree houses or just leaving around as a warning to uncooperative trees. The tenor buzz of power tools operated by newly knowledgeable guests drifts from educational sessions on operating equipment and woodworking.

Thanks to improper equipment and a lack of professional training, Nanci Grenier Boutet endured four years of splashes and bruises before she could reliably stand up on her surfboard. Nanci founded Aquaholics to save others from a similarly waterlogged fate, and it was not long before she began to make waves in Maine’s dedicated surfing community. Nestled in a space that once housed a church, her surf shop has earned local renown for its selection of quality wetsuits and beach gear available to rent or buy.

When Nanci and her staff aren’t outfitting wave riders with professional equipment, they take to the ocean themselves during year-round surf and paddleboard lessons. CPR-certified instructors coach boarders of all skill levels in private surf sessions or group classes capped at three students per instructor. Large parties can opt for abbreviated surf lessons with a less-structured approach that lends itself to mild mayhem. Alternatively, standup paddleboard lessons impart various techniques for mounting boards and steering clear of siren rap battles during guided tours of Maine’s waterways.

The sparkle of vintage glass, the gleam of fire-polished spherules, and the bright colors of custom lucite beads, these are the tantalizing sights that meet the eye of a shopper walking into The Beadin' Path. To wander through the store’s wealth of beads is to wander through time itself. The collection is known for its vintage beads, and shoppers pass lucite spherules made between the ’60s and ’80s, raw metals saved from warehouses, and glass from West Germany nestled alongside fire-polished Czech beads. The wealth of textures and hues fuels creative minds, inspiring crafters to pick up vintage U.S.-made metal baubles and gemstones for nestling on cords, wiring into earrings, or stapling to the mailman’s lapel. In addition to enriching beaders’ stockpiles, The Beadin' Path also acquaints them with simple and advanced jewelry-making techniques during classes whose subjects range from wrapping leather to knotting pearls.

At Jo-Ann's Gardens, rainbows don’t just spring from clouds. They can be grown from the ground up, with help from raindrops, sunbeams, and earthworms’ sweet, tender lullabies. Some rainbows are made of flowers such as geraniums and petunias, which bloom from hanging baskets and patio pots. Others pepper the tree nursery, where evergreens mingle with budding hydrangea and sugar maples that blush red come fall. Proven Winners annuals add pop to garden beds in the spring and summer, and perennials weather harsh winters to bloom year after year. The garden center also peddles plant-tending tools, landscaping staples, and garden decorations, which range from stone statues to three hues of mulch. In addition to cultivating seedlings in seven greenhouses, attentive staffers arrange cut blooms at the floral shop and install sod, ponds, and irrigation systems through a landscaping service. :m]]