By Carol Coultas,Business Writer

LEWISTON – Attention holiday shoppers: L.L. Bean will open a temporary factory store in the Lewiston Mall.

And the prices will be “zany.”

“We expect the pricing will be at least 30 percent off our regular factory-store prices,” said Rich Donaldson, spokesman for the iconic outdoor retailer. “It’s zany pricing, and you can quote me on that.”

The store, which will occupy about half of the former Ames Department Store, is expected to open in early November and remain for about three months.

The availability of good space is what drew the Freeport-based retailer to East Avenue, Donaldson said.

“And it’s very helpful to be in a market where we already have an operation, especially from a staffing perspective,” he said.

L.L. Bean operates a call center downtown in the former Peck building on Main Street. The work force there swells from 400 to 1,200 during the holiday season. The company expects to hire staff for the temporary store as well.

Donaldson said the merchandise will be second quality and span virtually all product categories, with an emphasis on home furnishings. He said the 35,000 square feet at the old Ames store will give Bean the space it needs to properly display its furniture line.

The retailer has opened temporary factory stores intermittently around the state for a few years now. It operated one in Waterville for the last few years, but can’t do so again because of an ongoing expansion of its call center there.

Bean’s operates four regular stores throughout the United States, plus its flagship store in Freeport. The company maintains three year-round factory stores in Maine (Portland, Freeport and Ellsworth), plus 11 other factory stores stretching from Maryland to New Hampshire.

Bean’s temporary store is the second business to take up space in the former Ames store, which has been vacant for the past three years. Earlier this month, Jay Wise of WRE Realty announced that a new restaurant offering a Chinese food buffet will open by the end of November.