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Outdoor retailer L.L. Bean is opening its second DC-area location this fall.
The Maine-based company announced plans today to open a 23k SF store in North Bethesda, Bethesda Magazine reports.
The store will open in Federal Realty's Pike & Rose development, just off Rockville Pike at 11850 Old Georgetown Road. L.L. Bean's main competitor, REI, plans to open a 35k SF store in the same retail center this year, likely forcing the two retailers to fight for the same outdoor-minded customers. A Nike Factory Store opened in the development last summer.
"As far as we've heard from people we've interacted with today, people are excited to have both of them," Federal Realty VP of marketing Andrea Simpson said about REI and L.L. Bean. "We love having both of them there because that shopper really does shop at both stores."
The location will be much smaller than L.L. Bean's other DC-area location, a 76k SF store it opened in Tysons in 2000. REI also opened a 51k SF flagship location in the redeveloped Uline Arena in NoMa in October. [BETH]
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