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For two days toward the end of the month, Maine-based business L.L. Bean will be doing business at Fourth and Pine streets in downtown Williamsport and according to Mayor Derek Slaughter, people are excited about that event.
"They're very excited about it. They're looking forward to it," Slaughter said of the response locally.
"I talked to Tony Ecker, of the downtown business association...they're looking forward to it. Jason Fink with the chamber -- very excited about it and helping to promote," he added.
Some local businesses downtown are planning to adjust their hours, opening earlier and staying open later, to take advantage of the presence of the national retailer.
"Hopefully it's a nice weekend and it's a great crowd downtown and the event draws a lot of people into our downtown. Anytime you can host events to bring people downtown or into our city, we want to do it and hopefully it's successful," Slaughter said.
The L.L.Bean Pop-Up Shop debuted in 2017 and travels all over the country each year, bringing products directly to customers, according to the retailers' website. The Bootmobile 3.0 was added in 2019. Those visiting the pop-up shop will be able to have their photos taken with the Bootmobile.
L.L. Bean's marketing group had approached the city about holding the event.
"They look at various cities throughout the country. I think this year there are 26 cities, maybe something like that, where they're doing these pop-up shops. They reached out to me. I said obviously yes, of course we definitely are interested and we want to host an event here. It's a two-day event," Slaughter said.
"I think our proximity to the outdoors we are the gateway to the PA Wilds, I think they just geographically really likedWilliamsport's location. Given you know, L.L. Bean's market and their merchandise and things of that nature it suits Williamsport well for them to have this event here.
Logistically, the pop-up shop will be located at Fouth and Pine streets. The streets will be closed in order to facilitate foot traffic.
"That's going to clearly help the other folks downtown too. If you bring in a bunch of people in, walking around downtown, that's going to help our other businesses and restaurants and things in the downtown area. So we're going to close down Fouth and Pine, Saturday and Sunday and encourage everyone to come out for the L.L. Bean, but also to enjoy other amenities that are downtown as well while you're there," he said.
"We think that we're a great location and we like to promote our outdoor recreation. We have a great Rails to Trails and the Riverwalk and everything surrounding it. Then you come downtown and we just have a great vibrant culture. We're looking forward to the event.
"Again, just want to give our appreciation to L.L. Bean for selecting Williamsport and looking forward to a great event," the mayor said.
The pop-up shop with the Bootmobile will be open on Oct. 28 and 29 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Some fun facts about the Bootmobile: According to L.L. Bean's website, the Bootmobile was constructed using a GMC Sierra. If it were an actual boot, it would be size 708 and would fit someone 143 feet tall.