Retail News

L.L. Bean Coming To The Mall In Columbia

After months of rumors, officials of Maine-based outdoor retailer L.L. Bean and The Rouse Company have announced plans for a new store at The Mall in Columbia. This is the second store in the retailer's initial launch of its expansion plan that includes opening several stores over the next three years in the mid-Atlantic region.

The 30,000 square foot store at The Mall in Columbia will carry apparel, footwear, sporting goods and home furnishings. Adding to the interest of the new L.L. Bean store will be the inclusion of L.L. Bean's Outdoor Discovery Schools. In Maine, the schools offer instruction for the whole family on outdoor activities like orienteering, bike repair, fly casting, kayaking and canoeing. While exact plans for the schools have yet to be finalized for Columbia, the company expects to offer a similar selection of classes and clinics to those offered in Maine.

Construction is expected to begin in the Spring of 2000 and completion is expected in March of 2001. The store will employ approximately 50 people.

Earlier this year, L.L. Bean announced that it would open a store at Tysons Corner in McLean, Va., the first to offer a full line of L.L Bean products outside of Maine.

The L.L. Bean store at the Mall in Columbia will join 230 other specialty stores and the mall's anchors--Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, Hecht's, JCPenney and Sears. In addition to the new L.L. Bean store, the mall plans to open a multi-screen cinema, three new restaurants and a Bibelot bookstore.

“We are thrilled that L.L. Bean will be coming to The Mall in Columbia,” said Jerry Smalley, executive vice president of The Rouse Company. “Our corporate strategy is based on providing customers with the best, most unique mix of merchants possible. Bringing L.L. Bean to Columbia is a significant milestone.”

Chatham Station Grand Opening

Since 1974, Chatham Mall has been a fixture along Route 40 in Ellicott City. Shortly, its mall doors will close for good, and the interior space will be torn down.

But in its stead, the shopping center debuts a new name and a new look this month.

Now called Chatham Station Shopping Center, the new center's merchants recently held a grand opening to celebrate their new location in a newly constructed strip center between Kmart and Giant Food, two of the center's main anchor stores.

With storefronts that open onto a parking lot, the Chatham Station merchants are visible from Route 40, a move they feel will attract more customers. The merchants include the Dugout, News Center, Music & Arts, GNC, and Radio Shack.

Einstein Bros. Bagels and First Union Bank, which have freestanding stores, are also part of Chatham Station, as are U.S. Cleaners, South Pacific Chinese Restaurant, and Goodyear, all of which are located in an existing strip center.

The shopping center's main parking lot was reconfigured into a straighter pattern as part of its new look. And when the enclosed mall space is razed, Kmart will become a freestanding building.

A third anchor store is currently under construction. Home Depot is expected to open this summer. It, too, will be a freestanding building, complete with an outdoor lumber area.

The Atlanta-based home improvement retailer replaces Caldor, which went out of business after 15 years as a mall anchor. The Caldor building was demolished.

Home Depot complements the other stores, adding "a whole new element of convenience for our shoppers," says Natalie Swirdovich, Chatham Station's manager and marketing director.

"Home Depot is a dynamic retailer that will create a viable synergy with our existing retailers. Better visibility for the stores, better parking layouts and something for everyone is what this redevelopment accomplishes," says Swirdovich.

Chatham Station was selected as the shopping center's new name in tribute to the history of Ellicott City, a railroad town.

Home Depot to Occupy Hechinger HQ Site

Home Depot is expected to acquire the lease of the soon-to-close Hechinger Home Quarters store in Columbia's Snowden Square.

Home Depot, whose merchandising success was one of the factors that led to the bankruptcy of the old Hechinger chain of home improvement stores, is planning to lease the site from Kimco Realty Co. which acquired a number of the old Hechinger sites in Maryland and other states. Kimco, a publicly traded real estate investment trust, is the nation's largest owner of strip retail centers, with more than 59 million square feet of space under lease.

The Columbia Home Depot would be the company's second site in Howard County. It is currently redeveloping the old Caldor location in the renovated Chatham Station shopping center, formerly the Chatham Mall, on Route 40 in Ellicott City.

“We've got a little bit of a hole between the Baltimore area and the Washington area and the Columbia site is an excellent location,” said Home Depot spokesman John Simley. “People are currently driving” to Home Depot locations further away.

The Kimco acquisition must be approved by a federal bankruptcy judge, and then Home Depot must ink the lease with Kimco. Simley said it is still too early to discuss renovation plans or an expected opening date.