L.L. Bean’s growing retail strategy will reach outside the northeast corridor for the first time in September, when the multichannel merchant opens a 30,000-square-foot store in the affluent northwest suburbs of Chicago.
“L.L. Bean has many catalog and Web customers in the Chicago area, which is one of our largest markets,” said Ken Kacere, S VP of retail at L.L. Bean, in a statement.
The new store at the Arboretum at South Barrington will be L.L. Bean’s seventh green store, incorporating creative use of recycled and reclaimed materials as well as state of the art energy efficient heating, cooling and lighting systems. It will be built to U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED standards.
The new store will also include L.L. Bean’s Outdoor Discovery school, where instructors offer hands-on experiences in such sports as kayaking and fly-fishing.
L.L. Bean currently operates 10 retail stores and has plans for a total of 32 stores by 2012.
