Like other businesses, the iconic Maine company is charting new plans in reaction to the global health crisis. Mainebiz recently sat down with Oakes to learn how Sea Bags is adjusting, and what’s ahead.
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Don Oakes is CEO of Sea Bags, a designer and manufacturer of bags, totes and accessories made from recycled sails with close to 175 employees at its summer peak and 25 retail locations from Maine to Florida. Plans to open eight new locations this year — in Michigan, California, Massachusetts and South Carolina — are now on hold. Oakes chatted with Mainebiz about how the crisis is affecting business and his longer-term view of the brand.
Mainebiz: Where are you working these days?
Don Oakes: I’m in the office — our offices allow us to work separate from one another. We have made arrangements so folks who can work remotely are doing so. We kept our retail stores open as long as practicable so we could keep people on the payroll, but unfortunately had to temporarily close all of our retail stores to protect our employees.
MB: Do you have any employees working from home?
DO: Yes, most all our salaried staff can work remotely — product designers, our inventory and wholesale teams, along with our ecommerce team. They often work collaboratively online anyways, and a few people occasionally worked at home anyway, so we were able to move to an at-home setup relatively quickly.
MB: And the people who sew?
DO: We make almost everything here at our building in Portland, that’s one of our calling cards. We do have some people who sew at home, but that’s a small part of our production. Due to the growth we’ve had in the last couple of years, we have significantly expanded our physical footprint so that we’re not cramped in the way we used to be. For example, we have sewing machines with a good distance between them, and we are now manufacturing in two locations. After outgrowing our location on Custom House Wharf in Portland, we’ve been growing at a second location in South Portland for the past five years. Some of our crew are still coming in to work, as long as they’re comfortable doing so, but we don’t expect them to. We’re following all the CDC health guidelines to keep people safe.
MB: How does the crisis impact your expansion plan?
DO: We’re on track, but we will be slowing things down. In February, our retail team went to Michigan and set up the four stores we planned to open in March — in Traverse City, Charlevoix, Harbor Springs and Saugatuck. They did an amazing job over just eight days. These stores are finished and we are ready to open the doors once this crisis is over. The other four stores we have plans to open this year are all in the works and at different stages, but we remain committed to opening all of them.
MB: Any opening date in mind?
DO: We’ve always targeted being open before Memorial Day at the latest, so we’ll still set up stores with that in mind, but hold off opening until it makes sense.
MB: How are sales going?
DO: Both our online and retail had been off to a good start this year — in February we had really nice growth in both channels, and the first weeks in March we were encouraged by the results. Right now everything has slowed down and our store sales have ground to a halt.
MB: How confident are you of weathering a longer economic downturn?
DO: We are fortunate in that, due to how we have managed the business, we have a strong balance sheet. We can weather this, and we will get through it. My hope is that it’s not protracted. Obviously, if this continues for months, we’re not likely to hit our growth goals for the year.
MB: Longer term, how do you keep the brand identity strong?
DO: It’s just about staying true to who we are. Some of the things that have always been true about the Sea Bags brand will help us get through this. That includes our commitment to sustainability, being “Made in Maine,”and our commitment to the community. Those things are not necessarily the cheapest way to do business, but it’s what we believe in.
