Sea Bags is based on Custom House Wharf in Portland but does production from a 35,000-square-foot site on Cash Street in South Portland.
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Organization is the name of the game at Sea Bags’ manufacturing facility in South Portland, where towering rolls of colorful boat sails wait to be transformed into one-of-a-kind upcycled bags.
Sea Bags is based on Custom House Wharf in Portland but does production from a 35,000-square-foot site on Cash Street in South Portland.
The facility was designed with departmental collaboration in mind, giving a small community feel to a huge production space capable of producing 200,000 bags a year.
By reusing boat sails, Sea Bags saves over 750 tons of fabric from entering landfills. All of its retail locations double as sail redemption sites, creating a closed loop supply chain where contributors are rewarded with Sea Bags merchandise.
Sustainability is woven into every aspect of the company, from using eco-friendly dyes and solar power to repurposing fabric scraps into tags.
“Sustainability is not just about saving sails,” said Sea Bags CEO Beth Greenlaw. “It’s about creating a sustainable company that will be around for a long time.”
Sea Bags’s mission is to create jobs and source materials as locally as possible. This is demonstrated by the South Portland team of over 100 manufacturers, stitchers and professional staff who create bags which will be sold in its roughly 40 stores, most of which are on the East Coast.
The facility is a one-stop shop for bag production. After the sails are delivered, they are washed and prepped before being transformed. Each sail is unique, ranging from vibrant prints to vintage fabrics adorned with nautical rope embellishments. The production team designs bag patterns that best capture the character of each sail.
A team of more than 20 in-house stitchers then sew the bags inside out. As a result, once a day, the entire factory comes together for “bag turn time,” a blend of team building and production efficiency, where the bags are flipped right side out before continuing down the line.
To apply designs, Sea Bags engineered a dye sublimation method that enables ink to permeate the fabric without violating eco-conscious production standards.
For Sea Bags, the attention is in the details. Part of the company’s signature look includes nautical roping accents sourced from New England Ropes in Fall River, Mass. Sea Bags also works with one of the last remaining thread manufacturers in the United States demonstrating the commitment to keep jobs locally even in the midst of cheaper overseas options.
“Maine first, New England second, and then the United States,” Greenlaw said about intentionally sourcing with the local workforce in mind.
Now in its 19th year, Sea Bags boasts employees who have been with the company for over 15 years, with the average stitcher remaining on the team for seven years.
“The longevity of our employees can be attributed to the fact that we are creating real jobs in the community,” said Sokunthy Yean, vice president of operations.