PORTLAND, Maine (May 1, 2023) - After more than 20 years of success on Portland, Maine’s historic working waterfront, Sea Bags, the iconic designer and manufacturer of stylish and durable bags, totes, and home goods all handmade from recycled sail cloth, will celebrate the opening of its 50th retail store this spring. The landmark opening occurs amidst five new store openings and expands Sea Bags’ retail presence across 15 states. 

“The opening of our 50th store in the U.S. reaffirms our commitment to bringing the unparalleled Sea Bags product and mission to more people and places. This is a busy time for Sea Bags as we continue to grow both our sales and manufacturing all the while remaining true to our Maine roots and honoring our state’s marine heritage,” said Sea Bags CEO Don Oakes. “We look forward to connecting with new local communities, creating more jobs, and standing firm to our commitment of products being made in the U.S.”  

One of the most defining characteristics of a Sea Bags retail store is the brand’s ability to evoke the rugged ambience of Portland’s waterfront, palpable in every location. Not only are the brands iconic totes steeped in the sustainability quest to reuse and repurpose as much sail cloth as possible, but their stores’ interior planning and design is grounded on the reuse of reclaimed materials and marine salvage.

“As traditional brick and mortar retail stores have struggled, Sea Bags has bucked the trend and created a retail model that operates successfully in a wide variety of locations,” continued Oakes. “By utilizing the existing unique characteristics of each space in designing and renovating each store, we keep our footprint light, costs down, build-out time short, enabling us to stay true to our environmentally friendly approach and yankee frugality. Just like our products, each store is one-of-a-kind, but you know you’re in a Sea Bags’ store.”

Two of the five new stores opened on North Carolina’s Outer Banks–a first for the brand. Sea Bags will also expand its presence in New England as it opens locations in Kittery, Maine and Martha’s Vineyard–the third store to open on the Vineyard. The brand also deepens its Mid-Atlantic roots by opening its second Maryland store, in Saint Michaels. 

The five new retail stores will open in 2023 in the following order:

• Duck, North Carolina on March 31 
• Manteo, North Carolina on March 31
• Saint Michaels, Maryland on April 28
• Kittery, Maine on May 12
• Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts on May 26

To further celebrate the milestone and remain firm to the company’s commitment of supporting its local community, Sea Bags is giving 20% of all grand opening weekend, in-store sales to selected local community organizations in each respective locale.

The company’s widening retail reach means expanded opportunity for Sea Bags’ unique Sail Trade Program. The Sail Trade Program allows people to donate old or unused sails; for every usable sail, Sea Bags offers customers a Sea Bags product in trade. The company then arranges to pick up the sail(s), or offers a drop off at any of the brands’ retail stores. Through this program, Sea Bags has reclaimed over 1.5 million pounds of sail cloth, and the company took in more than 10,000 sails in 2022 alone. To learn more about Sea Bags visit www.seabags.com. 

About Sea Bags 

Incorporated in 2006, Sea Bags started by making fun, functional and stylish totes from reclaimed sail cloth in the historic Old Port district of Portland, Maine. Today, the company employs nearly 200 people - all dedicated to the mission of saving sails from landfills while creating a diverse line of totes, bags, and home goods that feature material from recycled sail cloth. The extensive use of reclaimed sail cloth is unique to Sea Bags. Signs of hard sailing can be seen in Sea Bags creations, making them as individual and unique as their owner. The new Sea Bags flagship retail store is located on Commercial Street in Portland Maine, and the manufacturing headquarters and factory store is located around the corner at 25 Custom Wharf House on Portland, Maine’s working waterfront - where you can see firsthand the bags being made. Company-owned retail stores are located in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Michigan, and California. To learn more about Sea Bags and the stories their sails tell, visit www.seabags.com.

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