I needed to get some gifts from guests from the West Coast and imagined that attire from LL Bean would be something quintessentially Northeastern. As I don't shop here myself (and having been deterred by the company's politics) I had no expectations when I entered the store. First, the store is large, handsomely laid out, and conveys the (correct) impression of high quality. I was approached by two salespeople who were very nice and very helpful. It pretty much screams high quality by your shopping experience. The items I selected were full price, and not inexpensive, but were clearly well made. At check out they were carefully wrapped and placed in a shopping bag (kudos for not appearing to charge for the bag and for not using plastic.) I would go back here in a moment. Factoring the dirth of high quality options in the Albany area it's nice to have this here. read more

A great spot in the Capital region to get outdoor gear and clothing. Staff and friendly and helpful and knowledgeable.

Decent LL Bean. A bit disorganized. Staffed by mostly elderly teams. Mid of the road. Review: 3 read more

Impulse purchase at LL Bean. Clerk gave me $10 off card for next purchase. I said "Oh, I have a card in my car from last purchase". Went outside but did not have card. I asked her to apply card to THIS purchase. She can't. I have to earn it. I told her I'm not here to earn anything. The store is earning my business. U give discount so I will return. I DID return. I can buy this item for half price online. U should give me the discount NOW so I can support brick and mortar stores. nope. I could have explained this poor customer service decision to manager but.. I'm tired. Today I shop online instead of in person. Soon my heart will warm watching this dumb store go out of business read more

I think I like shopping here a lot more than going to Bean's catalogs and website. A lot of that is because I shop LL Bean primarily for clothing, and they have a LOT of men's clothing here. And I like it to be hands-on. I like feeling how thick the flannel shirts, T-shirts, and turtlenecks are, and of course being able to try on the pants. They haven't perfected any way to do that over the Internet yet as far as I know. Something else this store appears to have versus other Bean stores - sanity. Have you ever tried shopping at, for example, the LL Bean store in Burlington, MA, during the holidays? It's almost like this store pipes in zen or something. The one thing the catalogs have that the store does not yet have is golden and Labrador retrievers, which of course make everything around them much more desirable. read more

This a horrible place to shop. Nasty management that do not care to honor there return policy. Would rather be rude and not listen. L.L.Bean clothing products are made in China and do not hold up. Yet they still expect top dollar for there brand. Your better off shopping somewhere else. read more

Everything I buy for winter from this point out will surely come from LL Bean. I got the Maine Warden Parka, and man is it warm. And dry. And breathable. But when it came time to get my snow boots to go with my snow jacket, the line at the shoe counter was too long. So, I took my boot business elsewhere in the mall. I ended up, with what I thought was a splendid pair of Columbia Sportswear boots. Skip past the boot rash, past the infection, past the antibiotics and steroids, to the point where I would like very much to return my non-LL Bean boots. But I'm SOL. I learned my lesson. The hard way. Wait in the shoe line. Get the 100% satisfaction guarantee. Plus, they have a map in the store, which is a stunning display of all the nature and lakes that surround Albany. It was the first thing that I have seen that actually makes me feel good about the capital region. read more

LL Bean is the best place to purchase the outdoor gear and winter gear. I love the place. LL Bean store in Albany has a great location and a very nice ambiance. The customer service is the best in entire albany. Everyone of them is very helpful. I always have a lot of questions before I purchase anything and almost all of my questions are answered all the time. The stuff is the best quality you can find in its category. I first purchased my winter boots from here and fell in love with this place. Since then I have bought my turtle neck, jeans, gloves, down jacket and bicycle. LL Bean stands for its goods and there is always a lifetime guarantee on everything they sell. Now every time if I need anything I look at LL Bean first and if it is not available there I will go somewhere else. Just love the quality. read more

Wow. this LL Cool Beans is so big they actually have a small section devoted to camping gear tucked in the massive apparel departments. Such is the fate of the outdoor equipment store in the 21st century; I saw for instance they've added XXL sizes with stretch waistbands in some pants, which is a pretty typical need for your average woodsman/hiker/trailblazer. To be fair this is truly a common problem with these stores now, no matter what the brand. And LL Bean has always stood a bit apart in the active-wear apparel line for having good craftsmanship and a reasonable set of choices without too precious styling. I haven't detected much in the way of sales here, and in particular I don't see a big difference in prices from the catalogs. This reduces the retail store to a try-before-buy role, assuming they have what you want in stock. In general I've found more discounted items from LL Bean on-line. But one does enjoy browsing. Special holiday note: they have created two giant "hat christmas trees" that must truly be seen; they look like blurry pictures of Bigfoot, come to life. read more

My boyfriend and I went down to get us 2 kayaks. I had reserved them the day before. When we got there we were helped immediately and they were so nice. They were gracious enough to help us out the boats on our car and teach us the best way to tie them down. They were patient and very helpful!! We are excited to use our kayaks and will be back to this LLbean in the future. read more

Let's talk about size discrimination. You only carry up to a large in store... or at least that's what I was told by an employee who then with their nose up walk away and said you can order larger online or try the men's coats. I was willing to drop nearly $300 on a jacket, but I needed one size larger. Won't buy a thing from this location after being spoke to that way. And how can you now carry larger sizes in store? There are lots of bigger people who want warm jackets and ski pants. read more

One of the few and only LL Bean stores that I've ever been to, this place is humongous. I was quite amazed when i saw this store. It's got a campers store-load of goodies, from driving gloves, to winter gloves, to (mummy-type)sleeping bags to regular sleeping bags, to God-knows, you name it. if it's displayed in an LL Bean catalog, try this place. For faster service at the register, sign up online beforehand, as they'll connect your online account to the register account for faster checkout(by phone number) so you not only get your items at a reasonable price, but also some coupons on occasion, that are automatically awarded to your LLBean.com account. IT's not very often, that I have ever found an LLBean shop, and now that there is one in a mall that is 50 miles from my house, is just beyond my wildest dreams, lovely. If I was an avid camper(which I'm not) I'd commonly use this place. However, for the amount of times I use them(I use them for other things), it's well-worth it. Quality is well beyond sturdily built. Most of their items(with the exception of a few) are built with a Therma-Check fleece inner-lining. Some gloves even have better gripped padding on the outside. Nice and warm for the wearer on the inside, these items sure do protect the person they are intended for. A sure bet I'll return once again, when I have a wife (and maybe kids). Your empire is sure to shine once more...Keep up the good work, and keep building these places(5 stars isn't an accurate rating of this place(but 7 or 8 stars are)! Even if you bought your items online and need to return them(you can also return these items at this store) without a problem, thereby the account method is nice. The accounts are well syncronized. read more

Walking in from the parking lot on the Wolf Road side, you are greeted by the dispaly of backpacks and a customer service desk on your left. Frequently walking towards that area are store personnel to guide you where you need to go. In the middle of the store is a neat fish tank. My daughter's back-packs for school have come from here for most of the past six or so years. We like the fact that if something we don't like with them or get tired of them we can return them no questions asked and get new a new one. Staff has always been helpful to us. Even when there are long lines, we can get in and out relatively quickly. Cashier's are always helpful, smiling and greeting all customers. There are display areas for almost all members of your family. (I haven't been able to find something for cats.) Clothing areas are very well thought out, with room for people to move around in without bumping into one another also. read more

Today we received the worst customer service I've ever received at a ll bean! The manaager was smug and rude. She was unhelpful until I started too basically rant and what do you know she was able to do what I asked at the beginning of the interaction. Go customer service is proactive not reactive. I will never shop at this store again. read more

Employees are extremely rude and honestly truly trash. They have caused me extreme emotional distress which lead to physical illness. I speak for lesbians everywhere when i say our favorite store has fallen. read more

I bought a pair of snow boots recently from L L Bean and man they are just awesome. If you are a man of comfort, L L Bean is a best place. You need to overlook the prices for the genuine thing i believe. Their merchandise is very warm for winters and really last long. Must visit place. This store is like a gem tucked in the heart of Albany, read more

Very big L.L. Bean. They have everything from casual clothing to hiking, swimming, biking and camping stuff. They have kayaks, bicycles and camping gear as well. read more

When ever I go home to Niskayuna I make it my mission to stop in at LL Bean and I always leave with more than one thing.

CLEAN STORE! Great customer service and so many options!!! Love all their winter gear right now too!

I was actually pretty upset when I went to this camping store and the staff there didn't even know what a MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) is. Other then that I found a lot of nice stuff in there, though I am not a big fan of the clothing myself a lot of people seem to like it and the staff is very knowledgeable about the products they do carry in the store. read more

Excellent, high-quality products, prices are high but justified by the overall above-average quality of their merchandise. Customer service is fast and efficient. No hassels on warranty returns and exchanges. Good fishing gear. Staff are polite and knowledgeable. No complaints, worth the trip if you're in the market for good quality sporting-oriented clothing and equipment. read more

I am very impressed. I had never shopped LL Bean because I was under the impression it was too expensive, I was wrong. My intrest started when I looked through the catalogs that came in the mail, I liked what I saw and went there. I bought a purse,( more like a airline carry on) and I LOVE it. I like to be prepared. There are sooo many pockets. I put all my stuff away neatly and there's still enough room for a phone book, a dictionary, and a newborn. Everything they make has a lot of thought behind it, very user friendly. I picked out a winter coat I want to buy after Xmas and the price is better than no name brands from a department store. I like this place a lot and reccomend it. Maybe it's because I'm obsessed with being prepared, lots of smart pockets and waterproffing. I like it read more

Very disappointed in recent LLBean customer service and lack of principles. The sole came off (unglued) from pair of leather gortex LLBean hiking boots. The don't make the same style anymore so would not/could not replace exact style. They also WOULD not replace with current style. The boots were not worn out and/or heavily used, but fell apart. Rude customer service reps said 100% satisfaction guaranteed but would only provide 1/3 of replacement cost toward new style boots and not replace. Can't even come close to replacing them with 1/3 the price on a gift card. I didn't want a gift card but shoes that didn't fall apart. I am disappointed LLBean does not stand behind the guarantee, as they claim. read more

Shopped for clothing for a vacation - not in the store and was told to look on-line. Yes, what I wanted was there. So I ordered and was given a delivery date that was fine with my vacation plans. But my order never came. Finally, I checked on-llne and found that the order was cancelled. Now, it was too late to shop for my vacation. That was it? No notice? What a business model! I'm staying clear of LL Bean on-line in the future -- you never know if it will come. read more

I always loved walking around LL Bean in Colonie Center and looking at the really interesting merchandise. Today was the first time I needed to return something to LL Bean and I was shocked at the unfriendly almost hostile attitude of the person in customer service. I guess times change. read more

I just tried to redeem a gift card I got for Christmas. I could use another flannel shirt. I ordered the shirt, and my confirmation showed the shirt on back order until June 1. That's 2 1/2 months. It's a shirt. Not an F-16. I won't be needing a flannel shirt in June. This has been my only experience with LL Bean. Definitely not impressed. read more

Where else can you get great comfy clothes! WE are luck y to have LL Bean in our backyard!