At 80 Elm Plaza in Waterville, Maine, Bull Moose stocks new and used vinyl records, CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays, physical video games, graphic novels and manga, board games, trading cards, and music merchandise under one roof, open daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Waterville store is one of a handful of Bull Moose locations spread across Maine and New Hampshire, and it carries the same mix that has made the chain a fixture of regional pop culture retail for more than three decades.
Bull Moose began in 1989, when Brett Wickard, then an undergraduate at Bowdoin College, started the business in Brunswick with roughly $37,000. He did not formally incorporate the company until 1995, but the store built a loyal following early on by buying and selling used CDs and cassettes at a time when big-box chains dominated music retail. Chris Brown, a fellow student, became the first employee two years later and eventually rose to lead the company. Over the following decades Bull Moose expanded store by store into a regional chain of eight Maine locations and three in New Hampshire, employing more than 140 people while staying independently run.
That independence has shaped the store’s identity. Bull Moose was one of the retailers instrumental in creating Record Store Day in 2008, an annual event now celebrated by independent shops worldwide, and the chain has stayed close to the vinyl resurgence ever since, stocking exclusive pressings, colored vinyl, and limited releases alongside mainstream new arrivals. In January 2022, ownership of the company transferred to its roughly 140 employees, with founder Brett Wickard remaining on board as interim CEO during the changeover, making Bull Moose an employee-owned business rather than a franchise or a subsidiary of a larger media corporation.
Locally, the Waterville location functions the way most Bull Moose stores do: as a hangout as much as a retailer. Customers can trade in used CDs, DVDs, games, and vinyl for cash or store credit through the buyback program, and the store runs a frequent buyer points system for regulars. Local musicians can place their releases on consignment, giving Waterville-area artists a retail shelf they would not otherwise have. The shop also joins in Bull Moose’s chainwide Record Store Day events, drawing collectors from across central Maine for exclusive releases and in-store specials on release day.
For shoppers, that means Elm Plaza in Waterville is a reliable stop for both mainstream releases and harder-to-find pressings, alongside a rotating stock of used games and movies that changes with what the community brings in to trade. The daily 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. hours make it one of the more accessible entertainment retailers in the Waterville area, whether someone is looking for a specific new release on its street date or browsing the used bins for something unexpected.
Bull Moose in Waterville is the local outpost of a Maine-founded, employee-owned entertainment retail chain that has sold vinyl, CDs, movies, games, and collectibles since 1989 and helped launch Record Store Day, making it one of central Maine’s most established destinations for physical media and vinyl collecting.
