Word: freeporters
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Nowhere is Freeport, Maine. Until barely three years ago, Freeport was a sleepy New England town, a spot on a map just off the interstate with a post office, a gas station, and an ice cream store on Main Street. At that time, the town's only distinguishing feature was a world famous mail order company--the nation's only L.L. Bean store...
Today, however, Freeport has become a discount shopper's mecca...
...early days, most travelers ventured to Freeport only to shop at Bean's. If outdoorsy families wanted to buy a tent, a kayak, moose hunting equipment or a just a pair of duck shoes, they piled in the station wagon and made the road trip through Massachusetts and New Hampshire to Freeport...
George Denney, president of Cole Haan shoes, has lived in Freeport for 42 years. What is so thoroughly obvious to everyone now--that people shopping at Bean's might cross the street to do some more shopping--became obvious to Denney in 1982, when he opened a factory outlet for his shoes in what had been a Western Auto store on Main Street. "You know, we put in brick walks, natural oak interiors and carpeting. We spent over $150,000 just doing the interior of the store. I acquired two adjoining buildings and rehabbed those and put in six retail...
John McGivaren is a retired Navy pilot who found Freeport a quiet village when he moved here in 1977. Two years ago, with the pace quickening, Barbara campaigned against pell-mell development and won a seat on the town council. "We experienced a shock," she says. "Where Hathaway (shirts) is was Downs' grocery. That went out of business. Bass (shoes) used to be Freeport Variety, the paper store, and that's where you met your neighbor." Freeport has been gentrified, she says, by stores too pricey for her constituents. Yet, she confesses, "I'll tell you what...