Renys: Where Generations Bond Over Great Bargains

Sponsored by Renys

When Gayle Moores visits her favorite Renys store in Ellsworth, Maine, she inevitably finds herself gravitating toward the towels. It’s not that her stash of linens is always in low supply, although that can certainly happen at a lakeside Maine camp that hosts waves of family and friends over the course of a summer. It’s not even that Renys has high-quality towels in all colors, types, designs, and dimensions at most of its 19 locations in Maine—all at terrifically discounted prices. Who can turn and walk away from a $6.99 tea towel embroidered with encouragement to “Party Like a Lob-star”? It’s a question that almost feels like a dare.

But back to Gayle, whose parents built the family’s camp in 1946. It was right after World War II, when she and her brother were both very young, and just three years before Robert H. Reny opened his first store in Damariscotta, Maine. From the start, Renys was different. A department store that treated customers fairly and like family. As the chain has grown, it has remained family-owned and committed to passing savings along to customers, whether they’re browsing for Maine-made specialty foods and gifts, summer necessities, or apparel from sought-after name brands like Crocs and Carhartt. Or for practical household goods, like towels.

On this three-generation Renys expedition, the maiden visit since opening camp up for the season, Gayle’s grandson is aiming to pick out a boogie board, and her granddaughter wants her to look at swimwear, outfits, and accessories. And she will. But it’s in the towel section where this shopping trip folds in a fourth generation. It’s where Gayle feels close to her mom.

To say that Gayle’s mom was a prolific crocheter, right up until the age of almost 102, hardly captures her passion for yarncraft. Towel toppers were her favorite thing to make, using affordable towels from Renys and leftover yarn. Whether or not the colors matched hardly mattered. The crocheted embellishments made it easy to hang towels around camp—there are still some about. But these creations were also gifted far and wide. They were even sent to Argentina, Bolivia, and Lebanon with church-sponsored groups, a gesture of comfort and kindness.

Imagine just how many Renys products have found their way to distant corners of the world, or put smiles on faces close to home. On every store visit, Gayle is also on the lookout for deals on children’s pajamas. She runs a program that collects new PJs for shelters in the Seacoast region of New Hampshire.

Accessible prices are just one of the reasons Gayle’s grandkids always say “yes” to a Renys outing. Her granddaughter, who is into horses, knows she’ll pay less here for sturdy, top-quality boots. And some of the bargains at Renys are such steals, even teens and young adults can gift generously to their family and friends.

Her granddaughter is flipping through the $2.99 T-shirts, on a mission to find a fun design for her boyfriend, when she starts to tell Gayle more about this young man. About how he came over and cooked for her family recently. In a store like Renys that’s been around for generations, one of the best “deals” is the free-flow of conversation that happens when the hunt for bargains has everyone in the family feeling happy and exhilarated. You hear it in the down-the-aisle shouts: “Hey, come look at this!” And in the more intimate exchanges over the tops of racks loaded with athleisure wear, priced at a fraction of retail.

Gayle’s regular runs to Renys while she’s summering in Maine layer new memories on top of the nostalgic ones that make each visit so meaningful. She makes a point each year of finding one Renys treasure to take home, so she can pick up a tangible object on a winter’s day and go right back to summer. Back to Maine. Back to her family, all in one place.

Shopping Tips from Three Generations of a Renys-Loving Family

Gayle, her daughter, and her granddaughter have these tips for Maine shoppers:

• Don’t overpack for your trip to Maine—you can always find more of what you need, at great prices, at Renys.

• If someone in your family is gluten-free, you’ll find a well-priced selection of Bob’s Red Mill products here, such as flours and cereals made from alternative grains.

• Wherever you’re headed in Maine, if you’re passing by a Renys (and you probably are), stop in to see what they have on special. It might be different than even a few days ago.

• Introduce a friend to the Renys experience, and it might just become their family’s tradition, too.

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