PORTLAND – L.L. Bean is phasing out its Freeport Studio business unit less than three years after the line of professional women’s clothing was introduced.

Rich Donaldson, spokesman for the Freeport-based retailer, said Thursday that Freeport Studio wasn’t providing the anticipated return on investment. The decision came Oct. 2, he said.

“We had very high expectations and aggressive goals – both in terms of sales growth and what it would contribute in terms of profitability,” Donaldson said.

Donaldson did not know exactly how many jobs would be affected by the discontinuation, but said it would be fewer than 100.

“We’re going to do our very best to incorporate those people and address their needs in the transition,” he said.

Freeport Studio got off to a disappointing start after its launch in January 1999, Donaldson said, but turned the corner in the second year, when it accounted for about 5 percent of L.L. Bean’s business.

The company has annual sales of more than $1 billion, but it doesn’t offer more detailed figures, Donaldson said.

Freeport Studio marketed itself as “a cut above casual.” It targeted professional women with easy-care items with a more contemporary look than those of L.L. Bean’s mainstays. The line also offered a higher level of customer service – from shipping items with hangers and higher-quality wrapping to a customer newsletter.

“That was intended to treat that customer a little differently and with a little more TLC in terms of amenities … that extra touch,” Donaldson said.

L.L. Bean faced the hurdle of persuading customers to see it as more than a retailer of casual and outdoors clothing, Donaldson said.

“There was an expectation with the launch that there would be a much greater demand,” he said, noting that although improvements were seen, the strides weren’t great enough to keep the line afloat as a separate business unit.

Freeport Studio plans to send out its last spring catalog in January. The boutique in the company’s flagship Freeport store and the factory stores in Portland and North Conway, N.H., will continue to operate until mid-2002, Donaldson said.

Some products from the Freeport Studio line will be incorporated into the core women’s business. Donaldson said the idea is to make use of L.L. Bean’s economies of scale by including those items in the company’s mainstream operations.