LEWISTON – It was nice while it lasted.
The temporary L.L. Bean factory store that opened in November in the old Ames Store off East Avenue will be gone next month.
“We are closing in five more weeks,” Rich Donaldson, a spokesman for the iconic outdoor outfitter, said late last week.
It isn’t that the Freeport-based retailer didn’t find business satisfactory. “We’ve been pleased with the result of our sale” at the Lewiston store, Donaldson said.
Rather, right from the beginning the outlet store was intended to be a three-month sensation.
Occupying about half of the old Ames Department Store at the Lewiston Mall, the outlet was planned by L.L. Bean as a place where the company could liquidate a wide variety of goods, especially furniture. Nearly everything sold there was a second for one reason or another, and the sales slips reflected that.
Pricing was discounted by at least 30 percent, sometimes more. And merchandise, while focused on furniture, was often eclectic. Kayaks were popular, along with most other goods.
The availability of the Ames space 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 hired staff for the temporary store as well.
L.L. Bean has opened temporary factory stores intermittently around the state for a few years. It operated one in Waterville for the past few years, but couldn’t do so again because of an expansion of its call center there.
Bean operates four regular stores throughout the United States, plus its flagship store in Freeport. The company maintains three year-round factory stores in Maine (in Portland, Freeport and Ellsworth), plus 11 other factory stores stretching from Maryland to New Hampshire.
Donaldson said that while the company has determined its sale in Lewiston to be “a successful event,” he couldn’t promise the outlet would be back.
“I can’t comment on next year,” he said. “But I can say that we’re keeping our options open.”
Comments are no longer available on this story