BANGOR, Maine — Renys held its grand opening Friday for its new store location in Bangor, and Mainers in the community say they are thrilled they won't have to travel far to get to the store they love so much.
The grand opening was originally scheduled for Thursday, but store owners pushed it back, hoping to keep customers from coming out during this week's spring nor'easter.
Renys co-owner Adam Reny said he was shocked to see how many people came out to shop after dealing with inclement weather the day before.
"I'm definitely surprised," Reny said. "There's more people than I thought were going to show up to this, and they're still coming in which is great."
The new store was packed with several shoppers, and Reny said it was one of the biggest grand opening turnouts the company has had.
"Eight years ago, we did our Windham store, and this is by far way more of a crowd than when we opened that store," Reny said.
Reny added that when the company opens new store locations, staff from each store location and every department in the company come out to help the store get up and running. Holly Margaritis, who works as an HR coordinator in Newscastle, greeted shoppers at the welcome table with a big smile, helping them enter raffle competitions and collecting contact information.
"The Renys have been trying to get into Bangor for a long time, and we've just been waiting for the right location to open up for us," Magaritis said.
Magaritis said people often rave about the store's wide variety of sale items and reasonably priced merchandise. She said the saying, "If you can't find it at Renys, you probably don't need it," rings true for many customers.
Rose Dorrance shopped several items for herself and the people she loves while she visited the store for the grand opening.
"I got books here—learning books for my great-grandchildren," Dorrance said. "And I got an outfit, because I had nothing to wear to church this Sunday, and I got some cups because I like a lot of tea."
Shoppers like Dorrance were thrilled and giddy to see the new store.
"I'm so excited I got here about two hours early to park outside and wait," Dorrance said.
Customers like Pat Cummings said they often travel to the store locations in Ellsworth and Belfast just to shop, which is an hour or more away.
"We usually travel to all the other Renys as an adventure, but now it's in our hometown and we're so pleased," Cummings said.
Renys now has a total of 18 store locations, putting Mainers in Greater Bangor closer to the store they love.