Stronger cruise ship season boosts Old Port shops
PHOTo / James McCarthy
Sarah Weeks, manager of Ports of Call gift shop in Portland, attributes robust sales to cruise ship passengers exploring the Old Port.
The 2013 cruise season is in full swing in Portland, driving up business for local retailers and restaurants in the Old Port district. The city is expected to see 82,086 cruise ship passengers pass through it during the June-to-November cruise season, nearly 15,000 more than last year, according to industry group CruiseMaine. That's good news for Portland retailers.
CruiseMaine reported that Maine in 2012 accounted for some $45 million in cruise industry direct spending, adding that the cruise industry generated 801 jobs and wages totaling $27 million for Maine workers. Among them is Sarah Weeks, a Waterville native who is manager of Ports of Call, a gift shop at 83 Commercial St.
She's seen an uptick in cruise ship tourists this season, an increase probably enhanced by the opening of the mega berth. Available since 2012, the mega berth has boosted visits, particularly of large cruise ships. The city recently said Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship, Quantum of the Seas, will visit in the 2015 season. At 1,142 feet, it is about 10 feet longer than the Queen Mary and can carry 4,180 passengers.
Weeks and her shop of gifts expect to be ready. An edited transcript follows.
Mainebiz: It seems you couldn't ask for a better location to capture cruise ship tourist business. Is that true?
Sarah Weeks: Absolutely. We're either their first stop, or their last stop when they're going back to the boat. Either way, they're always stopping here.
MB: When you see all those people coming down the street in your direction are you thinking, 'We're about to get swamped?'
SW: Sometimes it can be stressful, because a lot of the shops located here along Commercial Street are small enough that there are only one or two people on during the day. But it's really exciting for us. Those cruise ships keep us going.
MB: Do you have the schedule of cruise ships for the season here in the store?
SW: The City of Portland does a great job of informing us. They give us the entire ship's manifest: How many passengers, how many crew members, when they're going to be docking, how long they're going to be here. As you can see on my calendar here, I have it all highlighted so I can see what's going on. They do a great job. They try to make it as easy for us as possible.
MB: What kind of reactions do you get from customers who might be new to Maine?
SW: For the most part, pretty much every one tells me how beautiful it is here and how they're so glad they chose a cruise line that comes here. They tell me, totally, they'd come again. And, actually, a lot of them are people who've come here before on one of these cruises. So there's a lot of repeat business.
MB: How is this season going?
SW: In the last few years, with the recession and everything, people had been careful in their spending. But this summer we've noticed that people have been spending a lot more, which is really great for our economy here. They're coming, they're spending, people have the money and they're wanting to do things and they're spending it here, which is awesome.
MB: What's the big seller this summer?
SW: Probably, as crazy as it sounds, raincoats and umbrellas. People love to come in and buy the raincoats because they're such a good price.
MB: And the items you sell, are they made here in Maine?
SW: As much as we can, we try to make sure they're made in Maine. It's really what people are looking for. They don't want to see it was made in China or some other place like that.
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