AMHERST, N.Y. — The Town of Amherst will still be getting an L.L. Bean store, just not where it was originally slated to go.
The clothing and outdoor retailer announced Thursday it will open a new location at The Boulevard Consumer Square on Niagara Falls Boulevard, not at the former Northtown Plaza, soon to be known as Station 12.
In May of 2020, representatives from L.L. Bean asked the town to rescind and refund its building permit for the Station 12 site, but claimed the request came from WS Development, the project's developer.
The new store will be L.L. Bean's seventh location in New York State.
“While 2020 posed many challenges to our business, including the temporary closure of all retail stores, we are committed to increasing our brick-and-mortar presence in order to serve more communities,” L.L.Bean President and CEO Stephen Smith said.
“We know that a record number of people reconnected with the outdoors amidst the pandemic, some for the first time, and we see these new habits remaining firmly in place going forward.”
Amherst Supervisor Brian Kulpa says he's very happy to see the retailer come to the town's west side as evidence that there is still a good retail environment there. "It's pretty exciting," Kulpa said.
Amherst Chamber of Commerce president AJ Baynes agreed.
"We do have a large amount of shoppers who come to us into this area from Southern Ontario portion. With the border still closed, L.L. Bean still thought it was a good investment in Western New York, and I think that's very exciting and very promising," Baynes said.
WS Development is the developer of Station 12, a three-phase project.
Part one included the installment of Whole Foods in 2017. They broke ground on phase two, the retail and restaurant space in November of 2019.
Not much movement happened after and then COVID halted the project last March. Then in February, national retailer At Home became a part of phase three, which is supposed to help kickstart construction again.
"As we continue to work through the pandemic, it's a challenge. Retail is obviously in a precarious position but they continue to march forward," Baynes said.
2 On Your Side reached out to WS Development about how this could impact Station 12, but has not gotten a response.