Reny's on Congress Street

It has been said that tourists shop at L.L. Bean, while Mainers shop at Reny's. And with the downtown Portland opening last week of the 15th Reny's store, it's clear that's never more true than here. While any Reny's store around the state attracts a wide range of clientele -- back-to-the-landers, telecommuters, foresters, fishers, mountaineers, and more -- even just a few days in it's apparent that no store draws a wider range of people than the Portland Reny's. Art students, hipsters, wannabe-hipsters, urban professionals, homeless people, the working poor from 100 miles around, the rich-but-prefer-to-dress-poor crowd, every age group, economic demographic, the 61 percent of Maine who didn't vote for Paul LePage, the people who think they're the 61 percent of Maine who did, trust-fund babies, welfare babies, working-class teens, and more abound in the aisles.

On a street that is itself the greatest place in the whole state to encounter the whole range of people unlike yourself, Reny's is the concentrated dose -- and a spot to catch a glimpse, perhaps, of others like you who are also marveling at the spectacle. Little wonder, though, in these troubled times, that there's a subtly placed uniformed security guard near the door: any melting pot can boil over from time to time, and a chef is required to ensure the right degree of mixing.

Reny's | 540 Congress St, Portland | 207.553.9061 | renys.com