PORTLAND, Maine (March 10, 2020) - Sea Bags, the designer and manufacturer of stylish and durable bags, totes and accessories handmade from recycled sails, is excited to announce that it will open eight new stores between March and May - taking the brand from 25 to 33 retail stores as it grows its U.S. footprint. All stores will carry Sea Bags’ unique designs and seasonal collections, including totes and home accessories.
“This is a very exciting time for Sea Bags as our footprint enters the Great Lakes region and the west coast for the first time,” said Don Oakes, CEO of Sea Bags. “The waterfront locations and passion for sailing that both of the regions cater to clearly aligns with our brand and our values. We look forward to connecting with the local communities and creating new jobs, all the while standing firm to our commitment of products being made in the U.S.”
Four of the eight stores will open in Michigan - a first for the brand, and one will open in Carmel, California - making it the first retail location on the West Coast. Sea Bags will also expand its presence in the South as it opens in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The brand also deepens its New England roots and will open two additional locations in Massachusetts in Edgartown and Plymouth - taking Sea Bags to a total of 21 retail stores in the Northeast.
“As traditional retail stores have struggled, Sea Bags has redefined the power of brick and mortar through its unique in-store experience,” continued Oakes. “To be able to walk into our stores and touch, feel and customize products based on personal interest as well as the opportunity to trade an old sail for a product in exchange is unlike any other.”
The Sea Bags Sail Trade Program allows people to donate old or unused sails - and for every usable sail, Sea Bags offers customers a Sea Bags product in trade. Sea Bags will arrange to pick up the sail, or it can be dropped off at any of the brands’ growing number of retail stores. Sea Bags has reclaimed over 700 tons of sail cloth material since the program started in 2017, and the company took in 8,800 sails in 2019 alone.
The eight new retail stores will open in 2020 in the following order:
Traverse City, Michigan on March 6; Carmel, California on March 20; Charlevoix, Michigan on March 27; Harbor Springs, Michigan on March 27; Saugatuck, Michigan on April 3; Edgartown, Massachusetts on April 17; Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on April 17; and Plymouth, Massachusetts on May 1.
Sea Bags was founded on the mission of creating and keeping jobs in the U.S. as well as saving sails from landfills. Today, Sea Bags has built a sourcing policy where raw materials are sourced locally first and always in the U.S. For more information on 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 175 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 sails that were once actively used. The extensive use of reclaimed sail cloth is unique to Sea Bags. Signs of hard sailing can be seen in every Sea Bags creation, making them as individual and unique as their owner. The Sea Bags flagship retail store, as well as the manufacturing headquarters, is located at 25 Custom Wharf House in 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, South Carolina, Florida, Michigan and California. To learn more about Sea Bags and the stories their sails tell, visit www.seabags.com.
Media Contact
Katie Wolitarsky
KWM PR