L.L. Bean plans to open first Connecticut store.

Publication: The Hartford Courant (Hartford, Connecticut) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News)

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COPYRIGHT 2006 The Hartford Courant

Feb. 22--SOUTH WINDSOR -- L.L. Bean, the outdoors outfitter famous for its Maine Hunting Shoe and annual blitz of specialty catalogs, announced Tuesday that it will open a 30,000-square-foot store in South Windsor within two years.

The store will be L.L. Bean's first in Connecticut, and it promises to further shape what is emerging as a highly competitive retail environment among major outfitters, with Cabela's and Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI) also coming to the region.

The L.L. Bean store, one of three the company announced Tuesday in a massive expansion for the Freeport, Maine-based retailer, is scheduled to open in summer 2007 at Evergreen Walk, the shopping center just north of Manchester's Buckland shopping area.

Also Tuesday, Bean announced that it plans to expand its flagship store and its presence in Freeport.

The other L.L. Bean stores announced Tuesday are planned for Burlington, Mass., and Center Valley, Pa., near Allentown....

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