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Everyone loves a bargain
May 27, 2001
By: Michele Pavitt
The birthplace of Renys
Shopping in Damariscotta is hardly a trip to the mall. Beside the municipal parking lot, wooden
benches offer southerly views of the wide, slow-moving Damariscotta River. Skiffs bounce on the
current and pansies bloom in small riverside gardens.
It's easy to spot the blue awnings of Renys stores on either side of Main Street. We start out at
Renys Underground in search of toys, gardening supplies, and whatever else looks like a good deal.
This wasn't my first trip to Renys, of course. With five decades in business, 12 Maine locations and
TV commercials, the store is familiar to most of us. But I hadn't realized that Damariscotta is the
birthplace of Renys, the town where Robert Reny started selling merchandise out of his car more than
50 years ago.
I notice several items that seem low-priced. Spices, children's pain reliever, Rubbermaid containers,
bath towels. But I'm not impressed enough to pull out my checkbook until we reach the garden department.
I pore over the rack of seeds and finally settle on packages of nasturtium, snapdragons, morning
glories and watermelon, each for 59 cents. But then the cashier informs me they're on sale for
10 cents each. As I gush over my good fortune at the bargain, my friend Jolene deadpans that
we'll just have to wait and see if the seeds will grow.
But she finds her own good buys - butterfly garden ornaments for $1 each. At the Renys clothing
store across the street, we buy cotton socks for $1 a pair and browse through the "famous catalog"
T-shirts at 2 for $10. Prices seem reasonable on all the basic items - shorts, jeans, sweat shirts,
bathing suits.
The store has carved a niche in the clothing retail business, says co-owner Robert Reny Jr.
Though it started out as a traditional small-town department store, the emergence of malls and
national discount chains such as Ames, Kmart, and later Wal-Mart forced Renys to change over the
past 25 years.
"Everything affects the small-town department store. We either had to change or go out," says Reny,
who looks relaxed in khakis at the store's corporate office. "You want to have things that the working
people need - basic, good value, down-to-earth merchandise."
The store is able to offer goods at competitive prices because it buys from vendors that supply
"famous catalog" retailers. The items may be off-price because they're irregular or were produced
for an order that was later canceled. Renys cuts the cataloger's label off the garments and sells
them at a reduced price.
I like the prices at Renys - but I find the women's clothes a little too baggy and outdated.
I prefer the little black dresses in a nearby clothing store called Slick's. In this specialty
shop there are eye-catching striped tops in pinks and deep lavender, and sweaters in vibrant shades
of coral. But the prices are staggering, at least to my bargain-hunting eyes. So we pack away our
purchases and head south along Route 1 toward Wiscasset.
Excerpt From: Travel Maine, Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc., May 2001
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R.H. Reny, Inc.
731 Route 1
Newcastle, Maine 04553
Phone: (207)563-3177
Fax: (207)563-5681
E-Mail: feedback@renys.com
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