Sarah Crookall
Staff Reporter
BARRY’S BAY – After 22 years, Barry’s Bay Outfitters closes its doors on Sept. 26.
“We’ve had a good year,” owner Sharon Taylor says. Despite COVID-19 related manufacturing and shipping delays, Barry’s Bay Outfitters sold over 110 boats this year. Many of those boats were Canadian brands, including ClearWater.
Owners, Eric, Sharon, and Jacob Taylor, say that now it’s time to relax into retirement. In the upcoming months, the family plans to travel to destinations like Thunder Bay, and Cedar Key in the U.S.
Over the years, Barry’s Bay Outfitters has sold and rented kayaks, stand-up paddle boards, canoes, paddles, lifejackets, fishing rods, and other outdoor accessories. Now, the blue and yellow lifejacket rack has only a small selection with mostly child sizes left. Two canoes and one kayak remain for sale.
The dwindling stock is largely due to the store’s going out of business sale. Various kayaks are up to $220 off, which has cleared out most of the store. Sharon says that she focuses on bringing in quality canoes that have helped business flourish during the pandemic.
The Taylor’s opened Barry’s Bay Outfitters in the spring of 1999, and over the years they have watched the town expand. “We were 20 years ahead of our time,” says Sharon with a smile.
The idea to open an outdoor rental shop came from a fishing trip the Taylor’s took at Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor U.S.. “We went to a place and rented a canoe,” says Sharon. “This place was right in downtown in Bar Harbor, but you could take your canoe anywhere.” That accessible canoe rental was the start of the successful family business for the Taylors.
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