L.L. Bean delays plan to build call center

WATERVILLE – L.L. Bean’s plan to build a 50,000-square-foot call center in a business park in Oakland is being put on hold in the wake of news that another company is building an even larger call center there.

Rich Donaldson, spokesman for the outdoors outfitter, said Bean is concerned it won’t find enough workers for a call center in Oakland’s FirstPark if T-Mobile USA proceeds with its plan to build a customer service center that will employ 700 people or more.

T-Mobile, a wireless telecommunications company, last week announced plans for a 77,000-square-foot customer service center in FirstPark that will open next summer.

Bean now questions whether it could find enough people to fill its labor needs, Donaldson said. Bean would need about 800 seasonal workers in addition to 240 or so year-round employees in a new call center, he added.

Donaldson said Bean’s plans are being put on hold, but he did not comment on the possibility of a complete pullout from FirstPark or its existing call center in Waterville.

When Bean announced its plans for FirstPark last June, officials at the business park expressed optimism it would attract other tenants.