Courtesy/Sea Bags
Sea Bags products with Life is Good branded messaging.
Updated: July 6, 2020
Sea Bags stores slowly hitting their groove as brand expands
Courtesy / Sea Bags
This Sea Bags store in Edgartown, Mass., which opened on June 12, is the brand's second on Martha's Vineyard
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With 32 out of 33 Sea Bags stores now open, including eight new locations, CEO Don Oakes reports that business is starting to pick up after a delayed start to the season.
"It's been a process, and we're still in the middle of it," he told Mainebiz in a phone interview. The first week any store opens is quiet, by the second business starts to pick up and by the third "we're kind of hitting our groove," he said, though still nowhere near normal levels.
As of today, 32 Sea Bags stores are open. Its location on Newbury Street in Boston remains closed for renovations following a Christmas Day fire.
"We're not sure when it will be ready to reopen but we're certainly not expecting it to be ready any time this summer," Oakes said.
Sea Bags is currently at a staff of 150 — below the normal summer peak of 175 — but Oakes expects the numbers to go up by the end of July.
Besides reopening existing locations, Sea Bags has laid anchor in eight new locations, albeit with a delay because of the pandemic.
They include four stores in Michigan (Traverse City, Charlevoix, Harbor Springs and Saugatuck); one in California, its first-ever on the West Coast, in Carmel-by-the-Sea; and two in Massachusetts, in Plymouth and Edgartown.
The Edgartown location is the second for Sea Bags on Martha's Vineyard and its ninth in Massachusetts.
With the new locations, Sea Bags now has a presence in 13 states, and Oakes said that it's been a challenge dealing with different requirements for businesses in different geographies.
Travel restrictions on staff also posed a hurdle to opening in new markets, he said, adding, "We took our time with all of that, knowing that it's not a typical year, and even if we were open it's not like we're going to be doing a brisk business anyway."
Oakes, sounding far more upbeat than in an April "On the Record" interview with Mainebiz, said that online sales have been strong in recent months, though the increases don't come close to making up for lost sales when physical stores were closed. He also said it's too early to predict anything for the end of the year or the holiday shopping season.
"What I've seen is that week-over-week things are improving, and that's the most encouraging part," he said.
The brand expansion includes a new partnership with the Life is Good lifestyle and apparel brand, featuring original Life is Good designs on Sea Bags recycled sail cloth bags, totes and accessories.
The collaboration's debut roll out included a line of Sea Bags products with a Life Is Good-branded thank you message for health care workers, to be followed by additional pieces this summer.
"I love the characters, I love the messaging, and they translated super-well to our product," Oakes told Mainebiz. "It's such a great marriage and a great fit."
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