Forget The Catalog! L.L. Bean's Coming To MOA
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- We know how much Minnesotans love spending time outdoors, no matter the temperature.
And so does a popular retailer that sells clothing and gear fit for active activities.
L.L. Bean announced Tuesday that they're opening their first store in Minnesota.
It will be inside Mall of America, and is set to open in November. Up until now, Minnesotans have only been able to order their products online or from catalogs.
You'll find the new, 29,000-square-feet L.L. Bean store in Bloomingdale's former location -- on the first floor of the mall between Forever 21 and Rainforest Cafe.
Sarah Schmidt is a public relations manager at MOA.
"It's going to be very prominent. It's … one of our four anchors now at Mall of America," Schmidt said.
L.L. Bean is known for its outdoor apparel, with everything from coats, boots and gear for camping, fishing and skiing.
Their products have a reputation for being durable. It's not uncommon for a pair of their signature boots to last more than 20 years.
Schmidt says she thinks many people will enjoy the ability to walk into a store and see items in person rather than just pictures on a computer screen or in a catalog.
"If you're like me, you like to touch and feel the fabric. You like to actually try it on. Online is always great and it's accessible, but here now we're taking the experience from the catalog to real life," she said. "And so people can actually go in, they can put on that big puffy coat, they can lace up their boots that they're so well known for."
The new L.L. Bean store will be easy to find, with an outside entrance and one inside the mall.
Even the guys overseeing the construction of the new store are excited. Ron Jewel is a L.L. Bean customer.
"Well you'll actually get to try things on and you know that they'll fit," Jewel said. "If you order something from the catalog, it may not be your size and you may have to send it back or wait for it to come in, and you wanted something today instead of two weeks from now."
You'll also be able to take classes at their Outdoor Discovery School.
"There are going to be doing demonstrations where they can show you how to maybe get up on that paddleboard and start snowboarding. And so it really brings a lot more to the retail experience," Schmidt says.
L.L. Bean is based in Maine, and this will be their first store west of the Mississippi River.
The new store at Mall of America opens on Nov. 10, and a grand opening celebration is scheduled for Nov. 14.
