Small Business Saturday: Viva Nostalgia turns its attention to sports

Unique Lewiston store has Riddell NFL helmets, Josh Allen figures

Left of Center with Joshua Maloni

When Viva Nostalgia opened on Center Street in Lewiston toward the end of the last decade, storeowner Roger Passero offered an almost-countless assortment of items – everything from toys to apparel to DVDs and international candies. It would be hard to imagine bringing in more product lines – but that’s just what Passero has done, of late.

“The newest thing we've got this year is all the football stuff,” Passero said as he pointed out rows of National Football League-licensed Riddell mini helmets. “We've been carrying Josh Allen action figures and Funko, but we now have complete NFL helmets. That's like the newest thing we do. We’ve got a whole sports section now, which we didn't have.”

Passero said the sports section “started with the Bills – but, I also realized that, in this area – it happens in all months, but especially from May till November, October – we get tourists from all over the country. So, we don't sell just Buffalo Bills for that reason. I have at least one helmet, if not two, for every NFL team.”

“Saturday, we sold five helmets. Not one was a Buffalo Bills,” Passero said.

He noted of these helmets that, “There's really not much in the way of stores that sell them. I mean, you could go to Wegmans; once in a while, they’ve got the regular new Bills helmet. But there's no store that carries all the football helmets.”

“We have alternate helmets, retro helmets. Just take the Bills: We’ve got nine different Bills helmets,” including the recent “Rivalry” helmet and “Salute to Service,” Passero said.

Viva Nostalgia also carries Josh Allen and Jim Kelly Funko items.

A look at some of the new football items on sale at Viva Nostalgia in Lewiston. The store also continues to sell myriad pop culture products.

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Part of the reason for the store’s new look is just that – a new look. The site’s former doorway, which also led upstairs, was closed to the general public. A new entry was made at the front of Viva Nostalgia.

“The door used to be a window; so now, we only have one window – but this is a lot easier to look in then the window was. So, when people are walking by, they can see” products, Passero said.

“We actually have more room,” he noted. “Where we had showcases here (near the new door), which were kind of like blocking the place up and taking up space – and they weren't really doing that much – we now were able to refit the place with different kinds of fixtures. So, we have more space for stock, and there's actually more place for people to walk around, especially in the front of the store.”

Of course, Viva Nostalgia continues to carry a wide assortment of music-, science fiction- and fantasy-related items.

“T-shirts is a big thing for us,” Passero said. “We have rock puzzles. We have all kinds of pop culture puzzles. Funko Pops are still a big thing. The games – we have all kinds of games and board games, playing cards. You name it, we got it.

“And even when it comes to sports stuff, we've even got things like mugs. We've got Bills and Yankees ramen bowls. There's all kinds of stuff.”

Viva Nostalgia is open from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday at 445 Center St., Lewiston.

Visitors to Viva Nostalgia will enter through a new door. The site also has a welcoming fresh coat of paint.