COLUMBUS, Ohio – Venerable outdoor retailer L.L.Bean has announced it is opening a retail store in Columbus later this year.
A 20,600 square-foot store will open in the Container Store location at Easton Town Center in October or November, according to a press release from the retailer Wednesday morning.
The store will be the company’s 25th outside of its home state of Maine and is the second location in Ohio. A store will open in Legacy Village in Lyndhurst, also in November.
The Easton store will employ about 100 people and, along with casual and active clothing, shoes and boots, will also feature outdoor lifestyle gear and one of the chain’s Outdoor Discovery Schools, which offer demonstrations and clinics on activities like snowshoeing, kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, archery and fly casting, according to Ken Kacere, the company’s senior vice-president and general manager of retail.
Kacere said Columbus was chosen because central Ohio is close to “natural resources and opportunities for many outdoor activities,” with residents who take part in a variety of outdoor pursuits.
The company will open a small “preview store” in July, a 4,700-square-foot store that will employ approximately 20 people, he said.
The retail chain was founded in 1912 by Leon Leonwood Bean as a one-room operation and is still family-owned, with Bean’s great grandson serving as chairman of the board of directors.