WESTBROOK, Maine — L.L. Bean’s stores in the Maine town of Freeport closed Sunday for the first time in nearly a half-century as more than 500 gathered at a memorial service for the retailer’s longtime leader.
The service for Leon Gorman was held at a performing arts center in Westbrook. Burial will be private.
L.L. Bean’s flagship store in Freeport, where the company was founded, is usually open around the clock.
It’s been 48 years since the outdoors retailer has voluntarily closed stores there. It has happened only twice before, following the deaths of President John F. Kennedy and Leon Leonwood Bean himself.
