FREEPORT, Maine - L.L. Bean wants to quadruple the number of its stores by 2020.
The retailer currently has 26 stores, mostly in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. Senior Vice President of Retail Ken Kacere says the expansion will initially focus on the Midwest and upper south.
"We're starting that this year," Kacere says. "We're going to open four this year, we're going to open seven next year, and then our plan is to open 15 each year after that to get to the 100 stores."
Kacere says L.L. Bean is branching out from its catalog and e-commerce core because today's customers want to shop any way they want, anywhere they want.
Each new location will also have an outdoor Discovery School to help customers learn how to enjoy the outdoors.
Retail analyst Steve Rowen of RSR Research says L.L.Bean is smart to expand beyond its foundation as a catalog and e-commerce brand.
Rowen says while customers love to shop online, "The truth of the matter is, anywhere between 90 to 93 percent - depending on who you ask - conclude, or are consummated, in stores."
