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V O L . X X V N O. V I M A R C H 1 8 , 2 0 1 9 12 B U S I N E S S M A I N E B U S I N E S S M A I N E B U S I N E S S N E W S F RO M A RO U N D T H E S TAT E northern Aroostook County com- munity. In a news release, he cited a health scare his wife Caryn had last year and the desire to spend more time with his family. An interim president will be named before May's graduation, and University of Maine System Chancellor James Page will discuss the transi- tion with campus and community stakeholders. N O T E W O R T H Y N O R T H E R N & E A S T E R N Katahdin Bankshares Corp., par- ent company of Katahdin Trust Co. in Houlton, announced that it has declared a cash dividend of 11.25 cents per share for the first quarter of 2019 representing a 4.65% in- crease over last year's first quarter dividend, payable on March 22. The company also declared a cash divi- dend on its preferred stock Series D of $54.6875 per share for the first quarter of 2019 payable on April 15 to shareholders of record as of April 5. The bank also said it donated $38,300 in employee contributions and corporate dona- tions to United Way of Aroostook in Presque Isle. Maine Savings Federal Credit Union in Hampden announced that it signed a multi-year agreement with Waterfront Concerts for the nam- ing rights of Rock Row, a concert venue in Westbrook. The venue will be known as Maine Savings Pavilion at Rock Row. RxWidget.com, a website based in Bangor, launched as a free site to help individuals find the lowest cost pre- scription for most medical conditions. Sea Bags set to open five stores, bringing total to 24 B y L a u r i e S c h r e i b e r Portland-based Sea Bags is opening five stores this spring, including three in Maine. Sea Bags designs and manufactures handmade items from recycled sails. The products are handcrafted at 25 Custom House Wharf in Portland. It has experienced double-digit growth and its stores have become a feature in coastal vacation spots. Between now and May, it will open Maine stores in Bar Harbor, Boothbay Harbor and Ogunquit, as well as Watch Hill, R.I. It opened a Rehoboth Beach, Del., store on March 8. With the new stores, Sea Bags will have 24 locations from Maine to Florida. Popularity of the product drove the openings, and the strategy of locating in seaside tourist towns determined where the openings would be, Paul Gori, vice president of retail operations, told Mainebiz. "It's such a well-received product wherever we go," Gori said. "It's an exciting time at Sea Bags, with all the growth that's occurring." Gori declined to cite revenues, but said the company has had double-digit growth each year of the past two years. Gori came to the company a year ago, with the task of growing the retail business. In his first six months, the com- pany opened five stores. With this spring's store openings, Sea Bags will have opened 10 stores in just over a year. How Sea Bags chooses its locations "One of the founding principles is being on the working waterfront in Portland," he said. "So a lot of the store open- ings are in coastal towns that have the name 'port' in them. We've got Portland, Newport, Rockport, Freeport." More recent openings are in towns with the name "harbor" in them or, like Rehoboth Beach and Ogunquit, are beach towns, he said. It also looks for markets with strong local and tourist trade. Gori said the search process for site selection starts with understanding the customer base. "Once we know it's a great market for us, I go to Google maps to identify Main Street corridors and search prime shopping areas," he said. "Then I do a site visit and walk around the town, scout sites and watch where people and traffic tend to flow." The decision is further informed by cost considerations. "Occupancy costs typically, for any retailer, are the high- est cost there is," he said. Frequently, the company selects a side-street location rather than a Main Street location to help control costs, he said. It typically leases space, rather than buys. Fitting up each store is done as a team in one day, start- ing early morning and sometimes going late into the night. "We arrive on site with all our fixtures and nautical acces- sories and merchandise and, from start to finish, we open the store within a day," said Gori. "We have an amazing team. Five of us go in, including our CEO, Don Oakes, who's had an active hand in every opening." The company employs more than 140 people across manufacturing and retail. It's in the midst of hiring now for the five new stores, he said. Each store typically employs two or three people. THE MAINE STORE OPENINGS Bar Harbor — May 10 5 FIREFLY LANE (SEASONAL) Boothbay Harbor — April 12 8 WHARF ST. (SEASONAL) Ogunquit — April 12 5 SHORE ROAD, UNIT B (YEAR-ROUND) P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F S E A B A G S B R I E F A new Sea Bags store in Rehoboth Beach, Del., opened on March 8. R EGI ONAL S PONS OR S PR ES ENTI NG S PONS OR Celebrate 25 years of Mainebiz around the state during our 2019 Mainebiz On the Road Reception Series. Throughout the year we'll be celebrating with you, our readers and advertisers, at all our events, including our six On the Road with Mainebiz receptions. Join us at our second stop in 2019 at the Chace Community Forum on main street in Waterville! Enjoy hors-d'oeuvres and a cash bar while networking with business executives in the area. Celebrate 25 Years with Mainebiz on April 8 AT T E N DA N C E I S FREE B U T S PAC E I S LIMITED! Please be sure to register ahead at www.mainebiz.biz/OTRWaterville FOLLOW US @MBEVENTS #OTRWaterville19 April 8 | 5:00pm – 7:00pm | Chace Community Forum WATERVILLE

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