LEWISTON, Maine (AP) – L.L. Bean hopes to give the boot to backlogs of its most iconic product.
The Maine-based retailer is expanding production to keep up with demand for its leather-and-rubber “duck boot” with a new manufacturing center being unveiled Thursday.
Annual sales have grown from fewer than 100,000 a decade ago to this year’s projection of 750,000 pairs. The company hopes to hit the 1 million mark next year.
The Bean boots are made in Brunswick and in Lewiston.
In Lewiston, the 106,000-square-foot (9,847-square-meter) facility doubles production space.