L.L. Bean celebrates new Bangor center

BANGOR – Hand-decorated sugar cookies in the shape of the boots that made L.L. Bean famous were handed out as party favors Thursday when the company celebrated the opening of its new customer service center near Bangor International Airport.

The cookies, on which “Bangor 2005” were written in white icing, were packaged in small cellophane sacks tied with bootlace.

The Bangor center, which has been up and running for about a week, is the latest addition to L.L. Bean’s growing list of Maine facilities.

The 30,000-square-foot facility, once occupied by Irving Oil Corp., will employ as many as 600 workers during L.L. Bean’s peak sales season, which runs now through the end of the holiday shopping season.

On Thursday, the company marked the opening of its new customer service center on Godfrey Boulevard by presenting the city with a $25,000 check that will be applied toward a community project that is very much up its alley.

Bean’s gift, presented to the city by Chris McCormick, chief executive officer, will be used to develop a system of interpretive signs aimed at enhancing the appearance of – and the public’s experience on – the Kenduskeag Stream trail system, which will mark its 30th anniversary next year.

In his remarks, McCormick noted that the quality of Maine workers, including those from the Bangor region, has kept the company in Maine.

“You have shown once again why you are L.L. Bean’s competitive advantage,” McCormick said.

He also praised the city and the many other people who helped bring the Bangor project, which was on a fast track, to fruition.

“I have never worked with more helpful and eager people,” he said.

As proof of the company’s commitment to Maine, L.L. Bean is considering a multimillion-dollar expansion in Freeport that would include a 500- to 600-space parking garage, an expanded distribution center and a new L.L. Bean storefront on Main Street.

The expansion, expected to cost tens of millions of dollars, would be Bean’s largest such investment in a decade.

Bean also is considering a $35 million addition to its distribution center elsewhere in Freeport, where merchandise is shipped to customers and Bean’s five retail stores and 14 factory stores from Maine to Virginia.

Calls into the center were temporarily suspended Thursday so employees could take part in the celebration.

Nancy McKaig of Orono, a longtime customer, is among the first wave of employees hired to work in the new center.

A former recruiter of software engineers in the Washington, D.C., area, McKaig said she decided to apply for a position with L.L. Bean because of the quality of the company’s products, its good reputation and opportunities for advancement.

She said she was thinking about returning to work after having taken time off to be with her children when “all of sudden, this just fell out of the sky. It was kind of a no-brainer. This is such a good company.”

She took her first order on Monday.

“It was pretty fun, actually,” McKaig said, adding that the people who called into the center already were Bean fans and that many already were familiar with the company’s products. “They’re in a good place.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.