FREEPORT, Maine - The outside doors of the flagship L.L. Bean store here have canoe paddles for handles, but they don't have locks.
That's because the famous outdoor-gear retailer's sprawling, three-story megastore is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The doors haven't closed for more than half a century.
As the story goes, company founder Leon Leonwood Bean, who started the business selling waterproof hunting boots in 1912, grew tired of hunters knocking at his door at all hours to get supplies, so in 1951 he ordered the locks removed from the doors, and the store began its 24/7 schedule.
Outside the store is a 17-foot-tall reproduction of a Bean hunting boot that has become a tourist attraction in its own right since it was erected in 2002 to mark the company's 90th anniversary. Inside, the place is bright, open, and airy, filled with colorful displays of outdoor gear, shoes, and clothes for men, women, and children. Canoes hang from the ceiling, and here and there are stuffed animals, including a big, tough-looking moose.
Right next to the flagship store is Bean's Hunting & Fishing Store, which includes a two-story waterfall and a trout pool. Trophy heads look down vacantly from the walls while shoppers check out all sorts of equipment and supplies, from fishing rods to shotguns, bows and arrows to duck calls, hip waders to live bait. And naturally, they sell hunting and fishing licenses there, too.
Yet another building on the Bean campus houses the Bike, Boat & Ski Store. During the warmer months it displays bikes, kayaks, canoes, clothing, and accessories. When the weather starts to get cooler, the showroom stock changes to ski and snowshoeing gear.
In addition to clothes and equipment, Bean offers classes for both novice and experienced outdoorsmen and women. Its Outdoor Discovery Schools offer instruction on kayaking, canoeing, fly fishing, sporting clays, backpacking, outdoor photography, bike touring, and more. Last year nearly 16,000 people enrolled in the outdoor classes, according to David Teufel, a Bean spokesman.
For those who want to try out a new sport without buying all the gear, there's Bean's three-year-old "Walk-On Adventure" program. Anyone wandering around the Bean store can simply sign up for a class and they'll quickly find themselves heading out for an hour or two of instruction in fly-casting, kayaking, archery, clay shooting, snowshoeing, or cross-country skiing - for a fee of only $12.
"Obviously we don't make any money on the [Walk-On] program," said Teufel. "But if we can get them interested in a sport they haven't tried before, maybe they'll think about buying something from us, now or somewhere down the road."
The L.L. Bean flagship store has grown over the years, both literally and figuratively. It now covers more than 160,000 square feet and attracts more than 3 million visitors a year, making it one of Maine's top two attractions, right up there with Acadia National Park.
It's also the shining anchor store of a remarkable shopping mecca that's grown up in Freeport in recent years. There are more than 100 outlet and factory stores in town, making it one of the largest retail clusters in the state. But don't dare call it an outlet mall, at least not within earshot of any of the locals. It's an "outlet village," as more than one of them politely corrected us.
Actually, they have a point. Unlike the soulless strips that constitute most outlet shopping areas, downtown Freeport looks much like many other quaint coastal towns in New England. Credit for that goes to strict zoning laws drawn up by shrewd local officials. Most of the retail stores here, located on Main Street and several side streets, are housed in restored historic buildings or replicas.
Even the local McDonald's restaurant is in a white Greek Revival-style mansion, and you have to look pretty carefully to spot any golden arches (Hint: check the windows).
Among the familiar retail names you'll find in town are Banana Republic, Brooks Brothers, Anne Klein, Burberry, Coach, Dooney & Bourke, Gap, J. Crew, The North Face, Patagonia, and Rockport. There's even an L.L. Bean outlet store, selling overstock items and previous seasons' clothing and gear.
During our brief visit here, we stayed at the Harraseeket Inn, located just two blocks north of L.L. Bean. Voted by readers of Conde Naste Traveler magazine as one of the top 250 resorts in North America, the 90-room inn has fireplaces and canopy beds in many of its guest rooms, an indoor lap pool, and future plans that include a full-service spa. One of its two restaurants, the formal Maine Dining Room, serves regional cuisine, while the Broad Arrow Tavern has more casual fare.
The rates ($125 to $230) include a full breakfast and afternoon tea in a spacious sitting room off the lobby.
The inn is one of a growing number of "green hotels" around the country, and that means more than simply asking guests to re-use their towels. Chip Gray, the inn's general manager, said the Harraseeket uses only organic fertilizers on its grounds, gives some of its food waste to local sled dogs and composts the rest (offering guests small bags of it as souvenirs), and uses no Styrofoam containers for leftovers, instead providing degradable containers made from sugar cane.
While there are undoubtedly a number of great things to do in and around Freeport - fishing, boating, sailing, hiking, and sightseeing come to mind - I have to confess that we saw little of the town during our stay other than L.L. Bean, and - in my wife's case - several dozen of the outlet stores.
But I can tell you this much. Whether you're a shopper or not, there are at least two stores you don't want to miss here: The Mangy Moose and Cool As a Moose - and they're right across the street from each other.
First Published November 5, 2006, 5:47 p.m.