FREEPORT, Maine — L.L. Bean's headquarters is staying put in Freeport, where the mail-order company was founded.
The company disclosed at a Town Council meeting this week that it intends to renovate and expand its corporate headquarters in Freeport after reviewing options that included locations in other towns.
A company spokeswoman said the review of alternatives was part of the company's due diligence. The company's 1 million-square-foot warehouse and distribution hub is also in Freeport.
The brand first released his "Maine Hunting Shoe" prototype in 1911. While you can still buy the hunting shoe, it's also evolved into the side project known as the "Bean Boot," which is growing in popularity worldwide, and growing Maine jobs.
The L.L. Bean boot has been in production for more than a hundred years and yet, it's still one of the most popular purchases from the Maine store.
LL Bean has 3 shifts of manufacturing through most of the year. In two separate production facilities in Maine, the boots are made by hand. Leather cut and sewn together; the soles formed in a mold from small rubber beads and then stamped with the seal of authenticity; and then the two cemented and sewn together.
The LL Bean boot continues to be a source of pride for Mainers.
RELATED: L.L. Bean Christmas crisis averted
RELATED: L.L.Bean offers MBA to employees