L.L. Bean is delaying plans to build a large distribution center because 1989 sales fell below expectations, a company spokesman said. The Freeport, Maine-sporting goods outfitter bought a 200-acre site in Hampden and announced in June 1988 that it would build there. Initial plans called for the center to be operational by 1992, and to employ 2,500 full-time workers and 200 to 300 seasonal workers during the Christmas shopping period. But plans have been put on hold, said spokesman D. Kilton Andrew Jr. ``Now we'll sit tight and see the lay of the land as far as our business growth goes,'' said Andrew. The distribution center in Hampden definitely will be needed at some point, he said. ``When we're ready, Hampden will be sitting there waiting,'' Andrew added. Andrew told the Bangor Daily News that Bean would do nothing at the site during 1990 and that he could not specify when development might occur. The Hampden site occupies the southern half of the 500-acre Ammo Industrial Park. Access to the site would be from a proposed road off U.S. Route 202 in Hampden. A 500,000-square-foot building planned for the site, which would cover about 11 acres, would be used to help handle Bean's mail-order business. Bean President Leon A. Gorman said previously that several factors led to selection of the Bangor-area site. ``The Hampden site has been developed for regional industrial use and is one of only a few in the state large enough for our facility,'' Gorman said. ``The site also has access to I-95 and to Bangor International Airport for expeditious receipt of merchandise and for rapid shipment of customer orders by truck or air.''
