Tennessee
L.L.Bean opens first Tennessee store in Franklin. See inside
See inside L.L.Bean’s first Tennessee location at Franklin mall
L.L.Bean has officially opened the doors to its inaugural Tennessee location at Cool Springs Galleria Mall.
The boot has arrived. After months of anticipation, L.L.Bean opened its inaugural Tennessee location at Cool Springs Galleria mall in Franklin July 17.
To celebrate and spread the word, L.L.Bean’s 13-foot-tall Bootmobile boot-shaped vehicle made appearances throughout the Franklin area, including stops at The Franklin Butchery, Hank’s Coffee Station, Leiper’s Fork Distillery and a Nashville Sounds game.
“For generations, Tennesseans have shopped with L.L.Bean through our catalog and online channels, and we’re excited to finally bring the brand experience to life in Franklin,” said L.L.Bean District Manager Kenon Mitchell. “With its strong outdoor culture and growing community, Franklin is a natural home for L.L.Bean. We look forward to deepening our connection with longtime customers while introducing the brand to new audiences through our legendary service, quality products and outdoor expertise.”
Some fans of the Maine-based outdoor gear store arrived for the opening before dawn.
First in a line of about 150 people was Paul Smith, who got there at 3 a.m.
“We are super excited for this,” Smith said. “We always go up to their headquarters in Maine, so we know what L.L. Bean is and we love them.”
Smith was most excited to purchase some more of their equipment: “Their outdoor equipment is really great. Their backpacks are well known for being waterproof and long-lasting.”
L.L.Bean also made a $10,000 contribution to the Franklin Family YMCA. Since 2022, L.L.Bean has contributed more than $2.25 million to YMCA Summer Camp scholarships.
“We’re an all-American outdoor lifestyle program,” Mitchell said. No matter if you’re walking your dog, playing with your kids, or you’re hiking around, we’re providing the gear that helps to make that experience better. We’ve been around for 114 years and our stuff is really well crafted, that people have loved for years. We’re happy to bring this store to our current fans while bringing our store to more people.
L.L. Bean is located at 1800 Galleria Blvd. Suite 252 at Cool Springs Galleria. The store is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday – Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays.
Following a week-long, multi-agency investigation, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced on Friday, Aug. 7 that it successfully located 30 missing children across the Southeastern region during the first week of August.
Most of the kids, ages 10-17, were found in Tennessee, but two were found in Georgia and one in Mississippi. All children involved are now safe, TBI officials said.
“Many people don’t realize this, but hundreds of children go missing in our state every month,” TBI Director David Rausch said in a statement. “From runaways that may leave their home out of desperation or despair, to those entangled in a custody battle, every single one of them deserves a fighting chance, and that’s why they also deserve our best work to help them.”
The operation was based out of Memphis, in partnership with the United States Marshals Service, the Memphis Safe Task Force, the Memphis Police Department, and the Department of Children’s Services.
In the days leading up to the investigation, intelligence analysts and detectives identified dozens of minors who had gone missing in the Memphis area, many of whom were suspected of running away from their homes. TBI said it publicizes missing children reports for reasons ranging from parental abductions and children considered at-risk to those who left home on their own accord.
Once the operation began on July 29, officers physically checked a list of 109 addresses of interest and effectively recovered 30 individuals.
“The U.S. Marshals Service is incredibly thankful for the collaborative efforts that led to the safe recovery of dozens of missing children in just six days,” U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Tennessee Tyreece Miller said in a statement. “This operation underscores the critical importance of swift action in protecting our most vulnerable. Every child deserves to know that someone cared enough to find them.”
The TBI maintains a list of Tennessee’s missing children on its website. Currently, that list includes four children missing from Nashville, ages 14-16 at the time they disappeared. One child, now 16-year-old Tony Metcalf, has been missing since May of 2024, while others like 16-year-old Belle Zerbe were reported missing as recently as July 10.
To view a list of some of Tennessee’s missing children, visit TBI’s website. If anyone has information about any of the individuals listed, please call 1-800-TBI-FIND to share it with investigators.
Hadley Hitson covers business news for The Tennessean. She can be reached at hhitson@tennessean.com. To support her work, subscribe to The Tennessean.
What Nashville leaders learned in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood
On a Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce trip to Miami, local leaders got the chance to trace the growth of the Wynwood neighborhood.
Tennessee welcomed the eighth-largest number of new residents among all U.S. states in 2025 with 63,785 people added to the population, making it about 7.3 million.
That’s down from a record single-year population jump of 98,200 in 2024, according to University of Tennessee, Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research’s Tennessee State Data Center.
The growing population follows a trend that has remained consistent for several years, as Tennessee continues its evolution into an economic powerhouse with multiple major population centers. The state’s total population has grown by about 400,000 people since 2020.
Which counties and school districts are growing the fastest?
The Middle Tennessee region led the way with Davidson, Rutherford and Wilson counties, respectively, bringing in the highest number of new residents last year, according to the data center’s most recently available new resident counts. In 2025, Davidson grew to 745,904 residents; 386,352 Rutherford County residents were counted; and Wilson County had a population of 175,033.
Other Middle Tennessee counties in the top 10 fastest-growing of 2025 are: Maury County, No. 5 with 118,131 people; Montgomery County, No. 6 with 249,935 residents; Williamson County, No. 7 with 272,061 and Sumner County, No. 9 with 215,528 people. Dickson County, meanwhile, is growing by about 1% per year with an estimated population of 57,739 in 2025.
Rural areas across Tennessee have grown impressively, the Boyd Center report found. Cookeville, in Putnam County, was highlighted as a key growth area.
“Growth in rural counties like Maury, Putnam, Bedford and Coffee is occurring well beyond the suburban edge, bringing attention to the affordability and quality-of-life factors that might be behind it,” State Data Center officials said in a statement. “The state’s 78 rural counties have matched or outpaced the growth rate of its 17 urban counties every year this decade.”
But as Middle Tennessee counties have grown, counties in West Tennessee have been in decline.
While Shelby County is still the largest in Tennessee, it lost thousands of residents in 2025. Memphis was the only large city in Tennessee to lose residents between 2020 and 2025. Though the change was not as dramatic, Hardeman, Haywood, Tipton, Dyer and Obion Counties all lost a modest number of residents in 2025.
Middle Tennessee school district enrollment, from 2020-2025
The fastest-growing Middle Tennessee school districts from 2020 to 2025 were Wilson County and Lebanon, Rutherford County and Montgomery County, according to Tennessee Department of Education enrollment data.
Here’s how enrollment changed across eight Middle Tennessee school districts from 2020 to 2025:
- Wilson County and Lebanon Schools grew from 22,473 in 2020 to 24,802 students in 2025, a 10.4% increase.
- Rutherford County Schools grew 9.5%, from 46,850 to 51,318 students over the five-year period.
- Montgomery County Schools increased enrollment 7.6%, from 35,932 to 38,636 students.
- Maury County Schools saw a 0.9% increase, from 12,635 to 12,752 students.
- Williamson County and Franklin Schools enrollment decreased by 138 students from 2020 to 2025, from 44,157 to 44,019, a -0.3% decline.
- Metro Nashville and Davidson County Public School enrollment dropped 5.2%, from 82,283 in 2020 to 78,040 in 2025.
- Cheatham County Schools enrollment dropped by 9.6%, from 5,881 to 5,318.
- Robertson County Schools reduced by 11.7%, with 12,383 in 2020 dropping to 10,935 in 2025.
Molly Davis covers growth and development in Nashville. You can email her with comments, questions and tips at mmdavis@tennessean.com.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Flash flood warnings are in effect for multiple Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky counties through this evening.
Rainfall totals from 1-3″ have already accumulated with more rain expected through sunset.
Avoid standing water and all water covered roadways and standing water could quickly increase. Find detours and ways to avoid any water covered pavement.
-
Dallas, TX2 minutes agoGeorge Pickens explains why his time in Dallas has worked out
-
Miami, FL8 minutes agoNo threat found after disturbance, threats reported on Alaska flight in Miami
-
Boston, MA14 minutes agoBoston Smith stays on a heater at Double-A after trade to Mariners
-
Denver, CO20 minutes agoDenver police say driver intentionally struck motorcyclist in fatal crash
-
Seattle, WA26 minutes agoSubs help Angel City FC earn tie with Reign in Seattle
-
San Diego, CA32 minutes agoFire displaces 21 residents from La Jolla memory care facility
-
Milwaukee, WI38 minutes agoSeries Preview: Milwaukee Brewers @ San Diego Padres
-
Atlanta, GA44 minutes agoBraves at Yankees series recap: Atlanta salvages an intense series in the Bronx
