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==Environmental Record== |
==Environmental Record== |
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L.L. Bean Inc executive David Mention told members of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute that his company surveys suppliers both to raise environmental awareness and to identify potential liability problems. Bean has included environmental considerations as part of its business planning procedures.<ref>*[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4298/is_199404/ai_n14973160] “Environmental issues rank up with QR when choosing vendors; L.L. Bean exec.; even suppliers' suppliers monitored, ATMI told. (American Textile Manufacturers Institute members told of importance of Quick Response, environmental concerns)”, [[April] [[1994]] [[May 16]] [[2008]]. |
L.L. Bean Inc executive David Mention told members of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute that his company surveys suppliers both to raise environmental awareness and to identify potential liability problems. Bean has included environmental considerations as part of its business planning procedures.<ref>*[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4298/is_199404/ai_n14973160] “Environmental issues rank up with QR when choosing vendors; L.L. Bean exec.; even suppliers' suppliers monitored, ATMI told. (American Textile Manufacturers Institute members told of importance of Quick Response, environmental concerns)”, [[April] [[1994]] [[May 16]] [[2008]].</ref> |
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In May of 2001, the L.L. Bean Factory Store in Rehoboth Beach, DE volunteered to allow the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Pollution Prevention Program to conduct a "Delaware Green Gold Business" audit of its store with an eye on |
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transportation, energy use, solid waste and water use. Overall, the store was already practicing over 75% of the items audited hence earning itself the title of "Delaware Green Gold Business". These items improve L.L. Bean's environmental stewardship while saving the store money ("Green Gold"). <ref>*[[http://www.dnrec.state.de.us/DNREC2000/P2/GreenGold/greengoldllbean.pdf]][[May 16]] [[2008]]</ref> |
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"By taking an active role in how we procure paper, we believe we can have a positive impact on resource use and forest management," Carolyn Beem, governmental and environmental affairs manager for L.L. Bean, said in a statement. "The EPAT can be a useful tool for sending that message throughout the supply chain."<ref>*[[http://www.dmnews.com/DMers-Test-Tool-to-Measure-Paper-Producers39-Environmental-Impact/article/87035/]]"DMers Test Tool to Measure Paper Producers' Environmental Impact"[[March 17]] [[2007]].Accessed[[May 16]][[2008]]</ref> |
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==Notes== |
==Notes== |
Revision as of 20:01, 16 May 2008
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Company type | private |
---|---|
Industry | Retail |
Founded | 1912 |
Headquarters | Freeport, Maine |
Products | Clothing and outdoor equipment. |
Revenue | $1.78 Billion 2006 |
Website | www.llbean.com |
L.L. Bean is a privately held mail-order and retail company based in Freeport, Maine, specializing in clothing and outdoor recreation equipment. Its annual sales were USD $1.47 billion in 2005.[1]
Company history
L.L.Bean was founded in 1912 by avid hunter and fisherman Leon Leonwood Bean (born October 13, 1873) in Greenwood, Maine, who 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 Road Cemetery.[2] The company passed into the directorship of Bean's grandson, Leon A. Gorman, from that time until 2001, when Gorman decided to take the position of Chairman of the Board, leaving the position of CEO to Christopher McCormick, the first non-family member to assume the title.[3]
L.L.Bean has a history of high quality manufacturing processes and products as well as excellent customer service. Their return policy is noted as being one of the best for any retailer. It is not uncommon to hear stories of L.L.Bean giving a customer a brand new product after one is brought in for repair. L.L. Bean is also a major business in Maine; out of 3 major businesses in Maine, L.L. Bean is the second most popular one.
Product line
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.
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 will end on June 30, 2008.
Branches
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[4]. The flagship also closed to honor the death of President Kennedy, as well as that of Bean himself.
L.L.Bean has stores as far away as Tokyo, as well as a large presence through its mail-order and online catalogs.
Retail and outlet stores
- Connecticut: South Windsor ; outlet store:Orange
- Delaware: outlet store: Rehoboth Beach
- Maine: Freeport (three stores open 24 hours/day: Retail Store; Hunt & Fish; Bike, Boat & Ski); outlet stores: Freeport, Ellsworth, Portland, Bangor
- Maryland: Columbia; outlet stores: Hagerstown, Queenstown
- Massachusetts: Burlington, Mansfield; outlet stores: Dedham (opening spring 2008); outlet store: Wareham
- New Hampshire: West Lebanon; outlet stores: Concord, Manchester, Nashua, North Conway
- New Jersey: Marlton; outlet store: Flemington
- New York: Albany; outlet store: Fayetteville
- Pennsylvania: Upper Saucon Township
- Virginia: McLean; outlet store: Williamsburg
- Japan: 9 retail stores
Outdoor Discovery Schools
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, trap shooting, fly casting, and sea kayaking. More advanced classes are conducted as well, but generally must be reserved in advance.
Competitors
The major competitors for its outdoor gear line include 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 preppy staples such as J.Crew, Barbour, Lands' End, Brooks Brothers, Gant, Izod, Polo Ralph Lauren, Lacoste, Eddie Bauer, Columbia Sportswear, and Patagonia.
L.L.Bean in popular culture
- The Official Preppy Handbook, an ironic description of upper-class and upper-middle-class life in America, describes L.L.Bean as "nothing less than Prep mecca."
- Author Hunter S. Thompson referred to wearing L.L. Bean shorts in a number of his works, most notably during the "Wave Speech" featured in chapter 8 of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
- McGill University studies L.L.Bean in their operations management course.[citation needed]
- In the movie Beetlejuice, Otho sarcastically says, "Deliver me from L.L.Bean," when first looking upon the office in the Maitland's house. It was decorated in a fashion consistent with L.L.Bean's catalogs.
- In episode 0821 of the cult comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000, Crow, while watching the movie Time Chasers (a.k.a. Tangents), makes a joking reference to "the L.L. Bean gang" as two characters run across the screen in rather rugged outdoor clothing.
- The 1990 Paul Rudnick Novel, I'll Take It was a humorous tale of a Long Island mother taking some of her children on a Fall shopping trip through New England with L.L. Bean being the final destination. As the plot unfolds, the mother divulges to her son that she is actually planning to rob L.L. Bean in order to update her and her husbands furniture in their retirement.
- The satire website, The Onion, parodied L.L.Bean's reputation as a white "preppie" brand with a video that claims L.L.Bean had been boycotted by the African-American community for close to 80 years. The report focused on confusion over the fact that, while there was no particular reason for the boycott, every African American interviewed echoed the sentiment that they "wouldn't be caught dead in" anything from the catalog.[5]
Environmental Record
L.L. Bean Inc executive David Mention told members of the American Textile Manufacturers Institute that his company surveys suppliers both to raise environmental awareness and to identify potential liability problems. Bean has included environmental considerations as part of its business planning procedures.[6] In May of 2001, the L.L. Bean Factory Store in Rehoboth Beach, DE volunteered to allow the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Pollution Prevention Program to conduct a "Delaware Green Gold Business" audit of its store with an eye on transportation, energy use, solid waste and water use. Overall, the store was already practicing over 75% of the items audited hence earning itself the title of "Delaware Green Gold Business". These items improve L.L. Bean's environmental stewardship while saving the store money ("Green Gold"). [7] "By taking an active role in how we procure paper, we believe we can have a positive impact on resource use and forest management," Carolyn Beem, governmental and environmental affairs manager for L.L. Bean, said in a statement. "The EPAT can be a useful tool for sending that message throughout the supply chain."[8]
Notes
- ^
"#259 LL Bean". The Largest Private Companies. Forbes. November 9, 2006. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|date=
(help) - ^ Rogak, Lisa (2004), Stones and Bones of New England: A guide to unusual, historic, and otherwise notable cemeteries, Globe Pequat ISBN 07627-3000-5
- ^ "Company Information: Background". L.L.Bean. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
- ^ "95th Anniversary Timeline". L.L.Bean. p. 1962. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
- ^ "African-American Boycott of L.L. Bean Enters 80th Year" (Flash video). The Onion. Retrieved 2007-09-26.
- ^ *[1] “Environmental issues rank up with QR when choosing vendors; L.L. Bean exec.; even suppliers' suppliers monitored, ATMI told. (American Textile Manufacturers Institute members told of importance of Quick Response, environmental concerns)”, [[April] 1994 May 16 2008.
- ^ *[[2]]May 16 2008
- ^ *[[3]]"DMers Test Tool to Measure Paper Producers' Environmental Impact"March 17 2007.AccessedMay 162008
References
- Montgomery, M.R. (1984). In Search of L.L.Bean. Little Brown. ISBN 0-316-57864-9. A short, unofficial history.
- Gorman, Leon (2006). L.L.Bean: The Making of an American Icon. Harvard Business School Press. ISBN 1-57851-183-6.
External links
- L.L.Bean — official web site
- Abelson, Jenn (September 1, 2006). "6 years later, L.L. Bean gets back in gear for expansion". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
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(help) - Reidy, Chris (July 28, 2000). "Journey of discovery". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
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(help) - Montgomery, M. R. (December 27, 1981). "The marketing magic of L. L. Bean". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
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: Check date values in:|date=
(help)
- Retail companies of the United States
- Companies based in Maine
- Companies established in 1912
- Family businesses
- Sporting goods retailers of the United States
- Privately held companies of the United States
- Mail-order retailers
- Camping equipment manufacturers
- Online retail companies of the United States
- Descendants of Stephen Bachiler