Photo / Renee Cordes
This Renys shopping cart was used for the last time at 540 Congress St. on Tuesday.
December 30, 2025
In sign of the times, staff-challenged Renys ends 15-year Portland adventure a day early
Photo / Renee Cordes
Less than 10 minutes after Renys locked its doors at 540 Congress St. in downtown Portland on Tuesday afternoon, customers were surprised to find that the retailer had closed for business a day early. Associates were ringing up purchases until the last minute.
With less than half an hour to go until Renys rang up its last sales in Portland, shoppers were getting in their final purchases at the downtown store.
“I’m going to miss this place,” an elderly woman named Andrea said as she hunted for bargains in the kitchen section at 540 Congress St. on Tuesday afternoon.
"I’m wondering what’s going to move in,” she added. “Maybe Levinsky’s will come back,” she said, speculating about the return of another discount retailer more than two decades after it closed its store at the base of Munjoy Hill.
This time it was Renys’s turn to leave, officially closing its chapter at 3 p.m. on a frigid Dec. 30 after 15 years in downtown Portland, while leaving the door open to another store in Greater Portland at some point down the road.
The family-owned chain, which advertises with the jingle “Renys: A Maine Adventure,” had intended its last day to be Dec. 31 but pushed the closure up a day early due to illness and staff shortages.
Both were mentioned in black-and-white notices at the entrances, which seemed an apt sign of the times for a struggling downtown neighborhood and statewide labor shortages.
Out with a whimper
By 3:05 p.m., the doors were locked, ending Renys’s adventure in Maine’s largest city with a whimper rather than a bang. The scene was a far cry from the annual early-bird pre-holiday hoopla with extra discounts between 6 and 9 a.m. every first Saturday of November.
While there were 50% off promotions on leftover Christmas treats that never made it into stockings and tiny Santa-themed metal gift-card holders, the meager selection conjured up the Island of Misfit Toys in the 1964 animated classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
Some shelves were entirely empty, but there was still enough merchandise to keep shoppers filing in. At around 2:45 p.m., a voice on the loudspeaker announced 15 minutes until closing and urged customers with purchases to proceed to the register.
“I’m trying to decide if I need anything,” said one, while a mother and son who hadn’t realized this was the retailer’s last day rushed to buy a puzzle and a hat. Rushing past the toy aisle, a young man said he was there to “take one more look.”
Some of the last sales rung up near the Free Street exit included four rolls of toilet paper purchased with a $5 Renys gift card and a package of green tea for $3.59, including tax.
A few shoppers took selfies on their way out.
Peter Van Allen
The final day of the Renys store at 540 Congress St. in Portland was Dec. 30.
‘End of an era’
Minutes after 3 p.m., a handful of would-be customers outside the Congress Street entrance were surprised to find the doors locked and the notice about the early closure.
“It is the end of an era,” observed Karolina, a Portland resident who said she had hoped to buy a scarf for herself and snow pants for her daughter, a shy little thing who scurried to hide behind her mom. She also “loves the toys,” the mother said.
Other thwarted shoppers were not as calm.
"Locked out forever," griped one, as another expressed anger at “misleading advertising” in the original Dec. 31 closure notice before walking out into the cold city street.
Mainebiz web partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments