Firmly epicentered in Maine since its founding 87 years ago by cobbler Leon Leonwood Bean, Freemont, Maine-based L.L. Bean has announced that it's locating its first major retail outlet outside the state.

L.L. Bean's new, 75,000-sq.-ft. location in McLean, Va., embodies the company's strategy for boosting profits as its core mail-order business faces increasingly stiff competition. Currently, some 85 percent of L.L. Bean's sales come from catalog sales. Another 10 percent of revenues come from retail sales, and 5 percent come from sales on the company's World Wide Web site (www.llbean.com).

The new facility, which will be located in the Tysons Corner Center mall, marks a departure in location strategy. In addition to the 24-hour, 87-year-old ago store in Freeport, L.L. Bean has opened 10 smaller outlet stores in four U.S. states and 16 stores in Japan. None of those stores outside Maine, though, has approached the scale of the announced new Virginia facility.

Providing a 'High-Touch' Experience
The mall location is part of L.L. Bean's efforts to up sales, which have plateaued at some $1 billion for the past four years. The company's product lines - including camping and fishing gear, bicycles, canoes, and kayaks - are the kind that customers want to see and feel before buying. That's something catalogue buying can't provide.

The new Tysons Corner store will provide the same "high-touch" outdoor experience that's part of the design of Bean's existing Freeport store, company officials say. The Virginia facility will probably include an indoor trout pond, plus a stream and waterfall and, said William Shea, who heads L.L. Bean's retail operations. Expected to open in July 2000, the Virginia location was selected because some 1.4 million of L.L. Bean's current catalog customers live in the area, company officials explained. In addition, a number of major outdoor attractions are located near the Virginia site, including the Great Falls National Park on the Potomac River and the Appalachian Trail.

Another location factor was the heavy traffic generated by the Tysons Corner mall, which pulls in some 21 million visitors each year.

L.L. Bean plans to build two more retail stores by 2001, Shea explained. However, the other stores will be only about half the size of the Tysons Corner facility and may not be located in malls, he added.

L.L. Bean's manufacturing will continue to be centered on the 450-employee facility in Freeport, company officials say. Analysts praised L.L. Bean's nerve in expanding into retail sales, which could open up new markets for selling trendier clothing lines. Those same analysts add, though, that L.L. Bean's new venture into retail and fashion comes with significant dangers. L.L. Bean President Leon Gorman acknowledged those dangers as the company made its announcement. The grandson of Leon Leonwood Bean, however, concluded, "We'd look silly if it flops, but it won't.'"