The Logo
L.L. Bean is an American, privately held retail company founded in 1912 by Leon Leonwood Bean. The company is headquartered where it was founded, in Freeport, Maine. It specializes in clothing and outdoor recreation equipment.
Company history[]
L.L.Bean was founded in 1912 by its namesake, hunter and fisherman Leon Leonwood Bean in Freeport, Maine. The company began as a one-room operation selling a single product, the Maine Hunting Shoe (also known as duck boots). Bean had developed a waterproof boot, which is a combination of lightweight leather uppers and rubber bottoms, that he sold to hunters. He obtained a list of nonresident Maine hunting license holders, prepared a descriptive mail order circular, set up a shop in his brother's basement in Freeport and started a nationwide mail-order business. By 1912, he was selling the Bean Boot, or Maine Hunting Shoe, through a four-page mail-order catalog, and the boot remains a staple of the company's outdoor image. Defects in the initial design led to 90 percent of the original production run being returned: Bean honored his money-back guarantee, corrected the design, and continued selling them.[1]
The 220,000 sq ft (20,000 m2) L.L.Bean retail store campus in Freeport, Maine is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.[5]
Leon L. Bean died on February 5, 1967, in Pompano Beach, Florida. He is buried in Freeport's Webster Cemetery.[6] The company passed into the directorship of Bean's grandson, Leon Gorman, from that time until 2001, when Gorman decided to take the position of Chairman, leaving the position of CEO to Christopher McCormick, the first non-family member to assume the title.[7] On May 19, 2013 Shawn Gorman, 47, a great-grandson of the company’s founder, was elected L.L.Bean’s chairman. The company announced a US$125,000 donation to a new scholarship fund upon Leon Gorman's death in 2015, representing about 2.5 years of tuition at his alma mater, Bowdoin College.[8]
Stephen Smith was named CEO in November 2015, the first time in the company's 103-year history that a CEO had been hired from outside the company.[9]
Product line[]
Since its inception, the company has branched out not only to variations on its boots but to other outdoor equipment such as firearms, backpacks, tents, as well as producing a full line of clothing, which is now its mainstay.
L.L.Bean is a global company sourcing its products from the US and across the globe. In 2016, its Brunswick, Maine factory employed more than 450 people who handmake the company's products such as the Maine Hunting Shoe, L.L.Bean Boot, Boat and Totes, dog beds, leather goods and backpacks.[10]
In 2000, L.L.Bean formed a contract with the Japanese automaker Subaru, making L.L.Bean the official outfitter of Subaru, spawning an L.L.Bean edition Subaru Outback and Subaru Forester for the US market. The L.L.Bean trim levels were top-spec versions, with all available options included as standard equipment. This relationship with Subaru ended June 28, 2008.[11]
In 2010, L.L.Bean created a contemporary sub-brand called L.L.Bean Signature. The Signature line is a modern interpretation of L.L.Bean's previous products with modern fits.[12]
Retail Stores[]
Along with a number of retail and outlet stores, the company maintains its flagship store on Main Street in Freeport, Maine. This branch, originally opened in 1917, has been open 24 hours a day since 1951, with the exception of two Sundays in 1962 when Maine changed its blue laws; a town vote later reinstated the store's open-door policy.[13] The flagship also closed to honor the death of US President John F. Kennedy in 1963, as well as the deaths of founder Leon Bean in 1967 and his grandson Leon Gorman in 2015.[14]
L.L.Bean, for its part, has invested heavily in activities for both visitors and residents in Freeport, including their Outdoor Discovery Schools, Christmas light displays, and their Summer Concert Series, which has attracted artists such as Grace Potter, Lake Street Dive, Edwin McCain, Great Big Sea, Buckwheat Zydeco, and Rockapella.
L.L.Bean opened its first outlet store in North Conway, New Hampshire in 1988. The company operates 30 retail stores and 10 factory outlets in the US, and 25 retail stores in Japan, in addition to its catalog and online sales operations.
The L.L.Bean Bootmobile, travels the United States and serves as a mobile store during its college tour with a limited selection of products.
In March 2018, L.L.Bean opened their first urban location in Boston's Seaport District. The 8,600-square-foot (800 m2) store will be the model for further expansion in urban areas and carry a selection of merchandise selected to fit the surrounding community.[15]
Returns policy
From its founding, L.L.Bean had an unlimited return policy, which allowed customers to return items with which they were dissatisfied at any time, even without a purchase receipt. On February 9, 2018, the company announced they would be limiting returns to within one year of purchase, and only with a receipt or other proof of purchase.[16] L.L.Bean said that some customers had been abusing the policy by returning items that had been purchased from yard sales and third parties or used the policy as a lifetime replacement program items with normal wear and tear.[17]L.L.Bean has also stated they reserve the right to deny returns to those who return items systematically.