Buzz on Freeport discount shopping still growing beyond Maine
FREEPORT, Maine: The shaving scuttle mugs, ikebana vases and butter dishes from Georgetown Pottery travel less than 30 miles from a studio on a Maine island to the showroom in Freeport.
The journey for Maine Woolen’s woven blankets is even briefer, a 10-mile jaunt from the Brunswick mill to the Main Street shop. At Wilbur’s of Maine Chocolate Confections, you can lob a maple maltball from the factory floor to the retail area without straining your arm.
If this were a race, the Vietnammade pyjamas from J. Crew Factory would lose to Team Maine by almost 8,000 miles.
Play the free association game with “Freeport” and you will most likely blurt out “Outlets.” The southern Maine town ( population: About 7,800) is known for discount shopping at more than 170 national and international stores. The only connection the chains have to Maine is their street address. But the retail topography is changing.
Made in Maine signs appear in shop windows, and labels on hand-made goods proudly hail their place of birth. Employees eagerly explain the origin stories of the companies and demonstrate, through props, videos or simple instruction, the craftsmanship of their products.
“The local movement is definitely catching on,” said Jim Cram, executive director of the Freeport Historical Society.
Boots, blankets and handmade pottery
The town has dabbled in many careers over the centuries, including shipbuilding, fishing, canning and shoemaking. Its most famous boot guy is Leon Leonwood Bean ( long for L.L. Bean), but the outdoorsman who disdained cold, wet feet wasn’t the first visionary to sow his dreams in Freeport’s soil.
“The outlets piggybacked on L.L., and he piggybacked on E.B. Mallet,” said Holly Hurd, the historical society’s collections manager and curator.
In the mid-1800s, Mallet poured a sizable inheritance into the development of Freeport, which benefited from the railroad and the nearby Harraseeket River. He invested in coal and steam power, and built one shoe factory and then another.
L.L. Bean overlapped with Mallet. In 1912, he introduced the Maine Hunting Shoe, which he sold from the basement of his brother’s apparel shop. Today, the Beanopolis in the town centre comprises the 200,000square-foot flagship store plus separate buildings for its home goods; hunting and fishing gear; bike, boat and ski toys; and outlet.
“Take your time,” a greenvested employee advised an overwhelmed customer. “We’re open 24 hours.”
In 1951, the company introduced a 24/7/365 schedule and has closed only a handful of times - when President Kennedy was assassinated, Bean died and a fire broke out in the 1980s.
The outlets rose from those ashes. The small inferno destroyed Leighton’s Department Store; Dansk moved in. More chains arrived. But over the years, new buds have started to blossom: The home- grown retailers.
“Maine-made products symbolise our state,” said Wilbur’s employee Nate Parent. “Maine is a beautiful state with gorgeous coastlines, woods and mountains. However, we also have some of the harshest winters anywhere, so that makes us tough, independent and resilient.”
In late November, I borrowed some of that Maine grit as I strolled along Main Street, a blocks-long run of national and local stores. I ducked into Brahms Mount, which uses antique shuttle looms to construct its blankets, throws and towels. A video transports viewers to the Monmouth mill 30 miles north of Freeport.
Suzanne Lauzier, a store manager, guided me around the store, practically a Dwell magazine spread with warmly dressed beds and artfully cluttered table tops.
I followed her to a hanging rack of blankets. Pulling one down, she described the signature markings of a Brahms Mount: Closed selvage ( banded hems), a herringbone pattern, handtwisted fringe that falls like Komondor locks. The blankets come in more than 20 colours, including seven shades of blue that cover all of the moods of the Maine sea and sky. The ecominded manufacturer also crafts smaller pillows out of leftover material and stuffs them with balsam, which “makes you think of Maine,” she said.
Across the street, Maine Woolens names its blankets after Pine Tree State towns ( Belfast, Rockport, Harmony) and landscape features ( Seacoast, Sugarloaf, Rangeley). Many of the patterns have backstories, too.
The stars in the Galaxy blanket were inspired by a 19thcentury item discovered at a flea market in Scarborough, Maine; the Bedford’s hucklace weave pays homage to New England whalers, who could bring limited personal items on the long sojourns. If only we could send blankets back in time.
At Georgetown Pottery, I stepped into a quintessential Maine scene without having to brave the cold ocean spray. Brush-painted renderings of blueberries, birch trees, lighthouses and sailboats adorned the porcelain works. I held a vase up to my ear and listened for the crashing waves.
“No two pieces will be the same,” said Judy Wing, an employee. “The colour of the water, the thickness of the sand or the shape of the clouds might be different.”