The name of the retailer that will occupy the two floors of retail space beneath Yale University’s future grad student housing on Elm Street was so top secret that even the mayor wasn’t told before the big unveiling.
But when a vehicle fashioned after the footwear favored by outdoor and hipster-types alike rolled in behind her Monday afternoon, the cat … er, the boot … was out of the bag.
“I didn’t know what the announcement was,” Harp said. “But I knew that it would be big.”
Harp joined Yale University’s Lauren Zucker, associate vice president for New Haven affairs and university properties, and Bruce Alexander, vice president for New Haven and state affairs and campus development, and L.L. Bean’s vice-president of retail real estate, Jamie Gull, to announce that the 105-year-old, Maine-based company is bringing not only its iconic boots, but a large store to the Broadway Shopping District.
Gull joked Monday that it’s not often that he participates in announcements where L.L. Bean is the youngest entity at the table. But with New Haven celebrating its 379th birthday Monday, and Yale slated to turn 316 in October, the company is indeed the new kid on the block.
