L.L. Bean gears up to open its first downtown Toronto store next week

About 150 people lined up to be the first person inside the new L.L. Bean in Oakville. (Pat Foran/CTV News Toronto)

L.L. Bean, the well-known American high-end outerwear brand, is getting ready to open its first downtown Toronto store at Manulife Centre in Yorkville next week, calling it the “first location in a metropolitan downtown market.”

The store slated to open on Aug. 22 will be the brand’s 16th outlet in Canada, with 15 stores already spread across Ontario, Alberta, B.C., Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, according to the brand’s website.

In Ontario, L.L. Bean has stores in Barrie, Kingston, Kitchener, Niagara Falls, Ottawa, Oakville and Toronto.

Managed and operated by Jaytex Group, the brand was founded 113 years ago in Maine and is popular among Canadians for outdoor apparel and footwear, travel accessories, and home and dog gear.

In a press release Monday, Dalia Shayo, Jaytex Group executive vice president, called the upcoming opening an “exciting step in L.L. Bean’s continued Canadian growth.”

Besides this location, Toronto is also home to another L.L. Bean storefront in CF Shops at Don Mills, which opened in 2020.

“For over a century, L.L. Bean has embodied the spirit of the outdoors, inspiring adventure while upholding the brand’s purpose: to inspire and enable people to experience the restorative power of being outside,” the press release read.