Believe it or not, one of my biggest worries about moving to Waterville from New York City was where I would shop for clothes. I had a mental breakdown after finding out that my favorite clothing shop, Zara didn’t have a single store in the state of Maine. Although shopping online is a thrill in and of itself, I equally enjoy slowly perusing through a shop, hunting for bargains. Downtown Waterville offers a good variety of restaurants to dine in, but comes up short for retail shopping
However, my chance to shop in an actual clothing store came during mid-October when Colby took a selected group of students to Freeport to shop for winter clothing. An hour away from Colby, Freeport is known as a discount town with many fun clothing outlets.
The weather was damp and rainy but there was still a good amount of shoppers walking around. I remember hearing a cashier at LL Bean remark, “It’s a busy Saturday.” The LL Bean Outlet was packed with people, so my twin sister, Fiona and I decided to hit up the LL Bean Flagship store, which to me is the equivalent of a “wonderland.” Although LL Bean clothing is drastically different from the latest Hypebeast brands or clothing produced by Brandy Melville and Zara, it was perfect for everything Maine.
The LL Bean Flagship store is huge in size and sells everything from hunting equipment, luggage, clothes and just about anything in between. When we went, there was a 20% storewide sale on most products. On the first floor you can find most of the men’s clothing, a wide array of backpacks and water bottles. My destination was upstairs on the second floor, where the women’s and children’s clothes are located. A shopping hack I like to use, especially at LL Bean, is shopping in the children’s section. I’m a pretty small person (5 feet to be exact!) so a LL Bean size XL (14-16) fits me perfectly. In fact, the largest LL Bean size for children is an XXL (18), which in my opinion is comparable to a women’s medium. Additionally, there is a lot of overlap when it comes to classic LL Bean styles such as their fleece pullovers and anoraks, so essentially you could buy the same look for a much cheaper price. Fiona and I found a few things we were serious about but decided to first browse the outlet to make sure we weren’t missing out on anything else.
The LL Bean Outlet is inside the Freeport Village Station, which as suggested by its name, resembles a small, quaint village. Inside the gates, there are clusters of shops such as Nike, Calvin Kelin, Coach and much more. The LL Bean outlet is much smaller in size but packed with merchandise. There was a 40% storewide discount, which meant a lot of items had great prices. The outlet is a lot more crowded than the flagship store and felt overwhelming. Still, I walked away with a Hydro Flask and bomber hat that cost half of what it cost at the flagship store. Although the LL Bean Outlet is cheaper, I still ended up buying my winter jacket from the flagship store because the cost difference was only $15 dollars more, and I liked it more.
If you don’t find winter clothes you love at LL Bean, try hitting up Patagonia and North Face. The Patagonia outlet was small but had great deals, especially if you want to stock up on clothes for next summer. The North Face outlet also offers large discounts but seemed slightly more pricey compared to LL Bean and Patagonia.
Other stores worthy of a visit are J.Crew and Gap whose prices are much lower than their usual retail stores.
After all this shopping, Fiona and I were starving; however, after our shopping spree at LL Bean we weren’t looking to splurge on food. We knew we wanted Chinese food and luckily China Rose was a walkable distance away. The prices are cheaper than the restaurants in Waterville, and ten dollars is sufficient for a lunch special.
Freeport is a great place to visit regardless of the season. There are tons of shops to peruse for all members of the family. However, if shopping isn’t your thing, you can always enjoy some Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream and catch some Zs on the LL Bean hammocks.