New shop in Rehoboth turns old sails into handcrafted totes, bags

A New England-based company on a mission to recycle old sails has opened a shop in Rehoboth Beach, where folks can now buy bags made from material that used to propel boats. 

"It’s great to take a product like that, keep it from the landfill and turn it into something beautiful," said Paul Gori, vice president of retail strategy for Sea Bags. 

Sea Bags takes in well-worn sails ready for retirement. The company even has a sail acquisition team that calls local marinas for any material leads. Folks in Rehoboth Beach can trade in their old sails for a tote or bag by bringing it to the Baltimore Avenue shop. 

Sea Bags was born in 1999 on the working waterfront in Portland, Maine, where a woman started making handbags and totes out of sails that would have otherwise been tossed in the landfill.

The company was incorporated in 2006 and has since recycled over 700 tons of sail material into handcrafted totes and bags. Every item is still handcrafted on the Maine waterfront, a commitment by Sea Bags to keep close to its roots. 

The sails are taken from the water straight to the warehouse, where they are cut up and laundered, then travel a short distance to a shop where stitchers make the final product. 

At least 10 hands touch each bag, and since every upcycled product is made from a different sail, no one bag is the same, Gori said. Products range from smaller handbags, wristlets and beverage bucket bags to large totes and duffel bags. 

The designs are often nautical: Golden mermaid tails, dark blue anchors and original sailboat insignia line many of the totes. Dogs and custom designs, both of which can be found at the Rehoboth shop, are also popular. 

The Rehoboth shop, which opened in March, will soon carry items displaying a map that extends from Rehoboth Beach down through the bays, Long Neck, the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Seashore State Park. 

The bags are easy to clean and the rope handles are continuously looped to the underside of the bag, Gori said. 

And on durability? Well, the bags are made of material that can withstand 30 to 50 knot winds. 

"I carry three or four totes full of my tools," Gori said. They're very strong."

Gori said he recently opened four Sea Bags stores in a matter of seven weeks, including the one in Rehoboth. Sea Bags shops stretch from Maine to Florida in almost exclusively coastal areas. 

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If you go...

Sea Bags

Where: 40 Baltimore Ave., Rehoboth Beach
Call: 302-567-2732
Hours: Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Website: www.seabags.com