L.L. Bean: Not in Rockford, but it’s coming close

February 27th, 2008 at 07:00pm Deborah Austin

A few weekends ago,  when planning a school-related trip into Chicago with some friends and considering what stores to visit in our few hours of shopping time, I had my heart set on finding an extra-warm down-filled coat I’d seen in L.L. Bean’s catalog.  But I was disappointed to discover there was no L.L. Bean store in Chicago.  In fact, there was no L.L. Bean store anywhere outside the Northeastern U.S.

Evidently I was just eight months early.

The Maine-based outdoor gear and apparel outfitter announced this week that it plans to open its first retail store outside the Northeast this September, and it will be in the Chicago area.  The new 30,000-square-foot store is planned for The Arboretum of South Barrington, a retail, dining and entertainment center being developed at the northeastern corner of Route 59 and Higgins Road in — you guessed it — South Barrington.

The Chicago area store will be L.L. Bean’s 10th outside of Maine. The company also plans to open retail stores in New York and Pennsylvania in 2008, said Carolyn Beem, manager of public affairs.  It would like to have three or four stores in the Chicago area in the next two or three years, she said.

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