By Carol Coultans,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – No word yet on who might replace L.L. Bean at the Lewiston Mall, but more retail activity is under way.

Jay Wise, a broker for WRE Realty which handles the mall property, said he is negotiating with a couple of retailers for the 35,000-square-foot space that will be available once L.L Bean closes its temporary factory store.

Wise said one of the parties would take all the former Bean space for a store and the other retailer would chop the space into smaller parcels.

The L.L. Bean clearance center is expected to close on Sunday.

The temporary store opened in early November to help the giant outdoor retailer sell some of its inventory backlog – especially furniture and other large items.

Its neighbor, the New China Super Buffet, features a 10,000-square-foot buffet and opened two weeks ago to an “unbelievable” response.

“It’s going a lot better than anyone thought it would,” said Wise.

A nearby Planet Fitness gym is also under construction. All of the new retailers in that section of the mall occupy space that was once Ames department store. Ames closed in 2002, leaving Sears as the only anchor.

City and state officials have had discussions with a bank that is interested in building a new branch in the mall parking lot, but no applications have been submitted as yet.