| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1912 |
| Founder(s) | Leon Leonwood Bean |
| Headquarters | 15 Casco Street Freeport, Maine, United States |
| Number of locations | 115 stores (2011)[1] |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | Leon Gorman (Chairman) Christopher McCormick (President and CEO) |
| Products | Clothing and outdoor equipment |
| Revenue | US$ 1.44 billion (FY 2010)[2] |
| Employees | 4,600 (2010)[3] |
| Website | www.llbean.com |
L.L. Bean, Inc.,[4] branded as L.L.Bean, is a privately held mail-order, online and retail company based in Freeport, Maine, United States, specializing in clothing and outdoor recreation equipment. Its annual sales were USD 1.78 billion in 2006.[5]
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The company L.L.Bean was founded in 1912 by its namesake, avid hunter and fisherman Leon Leonwood Bean in Greenwood, Maine. Bean had developed a waterproof boot (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, Maine, 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% of the original production run being returned: Bean made good on his money-back guarantee, corrected the design, and continued selling them. 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]
Since its conception, the company has branched out not only to variations on its boots but to other outdoor equipment such as backpacks and tents, as well as producing a full line of clothing, which is now its mainstay.
Although thought of as a folksy "down Maine" company, virtually all of the clothing, and the vast majority of other products, are now imported. The days of watching moccasins being made are long gone.
In 2000, L.L.Bean formed a contract with Subaru, making L.L.Bean the official outfitter of Subaru, spawning an "L.L.Bean edition" Subaru Outback and Forester for the USA market. The L.L.Bean trim levels on American Subaru vehicles are the top-spec versions, with leather and wood trimmed interiors and all available options offered as standard equipment. This relationship with Subaru ended June 28, 2008.
In 2010, L.L. Bean established a more stylish sub-brand known as L.L. Bean Signature. Designed by Alex Carleton, the Signature line is a modern interpretation of L.L. Bean classics featuring a more modern fit.
The original Freeport store had the appearance of an antique factory, with the business on the third floor, reached only by climbing a long outdoor flight of stairs. Offices were on the second floor, where mail orders were also filled. There was a mail chute leading to the first floor post office. L.L.'s brother was the post master. While there, customers or tourists could watch hand sewing of moccasins and repairs being made to the original hunting boots, which apparently had a lifetime guarantee. For many years, the hallway of the staircase was a bulletin board messaging service used by hunters "from away" to advise their fellow hunters of information about their arrival, needs, and wants for the camp. Fellow hunters would have a niche in the stairway where their friends would put notes, and the custom lasted many years. The new showrooms removed the old, and the store is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. There is now a "campus" layout with different departments in separate buildings.
Along with a number of retail and outlet ("factory") stores, the company maintains its flagship store on Main Street in Freeport. 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 reinstated the store's open-door policy.[8] The flagship also closed to honor the death of President Kennedy, as well as that of Bean himself.
L.L. Bean opened its first outlet store in North Conway, NH in 1988. This L.L. Bean outlet moved to a smaller, one-story store in 2008, citing efficiency issues with the original store (which was two stories and considerably larger).[9]
L.L.Bean has stores as far away as Tokyo, as well as a large presence through its mail-order and online catalogs.
L.L.Bean has education programs connected to many of its retail outlets to support the outdoor interests of its customers. Customers can participate in a number of outdoor activities without prior arrangement by signing up in the store on the day of their visit and paying a small fee. Some of the sponsored activities include archery, clay shooting, fly casting, and sea kayaking. More advanced classes are conducted as well, but generally must be reserved in advance. The Freeport location offers Walk-On Adventures for $20 in fly casting, archery,sporting clays, and kayaking from Memorial Day through Columbus Day. Snowshoeing and cross country skiing are available December to March. All of the other retail stores (there are now 13 total outside of Maine from Chicago to the Mid-Atlantic region) offer fly casting and kayaking.
The Outdoor Discovery Schools, in addition to beginner to advanced courses in shooting, fishing, and kayaking, offers weekend adventure trips and daily guided kayak tours in Maine as well.[10]
The major competitors for its outdoor gear line include Columbia Sportswear, Eddie Bauer, Helly Hansen, North Face, Orvis, Timberland and many other sporting goods retailers in the United States.
L.L.Bean's clothing line faces a rather different set of competitors. There, they compete with staples such as J.Crew, Lands' End, Barbour, Orvis, Brooks Brothers, Gant, Lacoste, Nautica, Polo Ralph Lauren, Original Penguin, Patagonia and many others.