Markeshia Ricks Photos
Yale’s Lauren Zucker with Bean’s Gull, Mayor Harp, Bruce Alexander.
The name of the retailer that will occupy the two floors of retail space beneath Yale University’s future grad student housing on Elm Street was so top secret that even the mayor wasn’t told before the big unveiling.
But when a vehicle fashioned after the footwear favored by outdoor and hipster-types alike rolled in behind her Monday afternoon, the cat … er, the boot … was out of the bag.
“I didn’t know what the announcement was,” Harp said. “But I knew that it would be big.”
Rendering of the planned new building.
Harp joined Yale University’s Lauren Zucker, associate vice president for New Haven affairs and university properties, and Bruce Alexander, vice president for New Haven and state affairs and campus development, and L.L. Bean’s vice-president of retail real estate, Jamie Gull, to announce that the 105-year-old, Maine-based company is bringing not only its iconic boots, but a large store to the Broadway Shopping District.
Gull joked Monday that it’s not often that he participates in announcements where L.L. Bean is the youngest entity at the table. But with New Haven celebrating its 379th birthday Monday, and Yale slated to turn 316 in October, the company is indeed the new kid on the block.
The “bootmobile” pulls into Broadway Monday, the L.L. Bean store pulls in next summer.
He called New Haven an attractive market for the company because of the strong catalogue and online sales that already come from the community.
A bootmobile crew member sets up.
Tucked into a space that used to be a parking lot at 272 Elm St., between Tyco Printing and Trailblazer, the store will occupy the first two floors of a six-story apartment building for Yale graduate students. The store will take up 9,000 square feet. There will be four stories of housing for the students above it. A groundbreaking for the project was held back in August; the buildling is expected to be completed by next summer. The new store is expected to create 60 jobs.
In addition to jobs, the store also will offers experiences to its customers through its Outdoor Discovery Schools, which provide hands-on demonstrations, clinics and courses to encourage people to get outside for recreation and fitness. The mayor said she envisions synergies between the store and the city’s parks department, for instance, in teaching people kayaking and hiking.
“I have the sense that what is good for Yale University is good for New Haven,” she said.
People enter to win L.L. Bean swag.
Matthew Nemerson, city economic development administrator, called L.L. Bean’s move a great opportunity to tweak the noses of those who have declared the death of retail.
Nemerson was asked whether having yet another outdoor store, particularly one so well known, move into the district might have a negative impact on outdoor retailers Trailblazer and Denali. Nemerson said he believes it will be complementary relationship rather than a competitive one, with L.L. Bean offering more introductory lifestyle options and Trailblazer/Denali for the more technical, hardcore outdoor enthusiasts.
Keith Smith, holder of the world’s coolest job — bootmobile marketing specialist.
He said the city will do as it did when Jordan’s Furniture was coming to town and work with L.L. Bean’s human resources department to see if it can help New Haveners get a leg up on those 60 jobs. Nemerson said because of L.L. Bean’s reputation for customer service, an entry level position with the company could go a long way in training and future employment for those who work there.
L.L.Bean operates 34 stores in 16 states, and 25 stores in Japan. In the past five years, the company has donated over $6 million for conservation and land stewardship.