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LL Bean Formed
In Leon Leonwood's Brothers basement as a mailorder business for the Maine Hunting Boot -
90 of first 100 pair of boots returned
Sending all returns new products, free of charge, creating iconic return policy -
Bean redesigns boot to help eliminate chafing
This helps sales rise to $135,000 in the following 2 years -
LL Bean outfits Macmillan Artic Expedition with Maine Hunting Boot
This helped them gain popularity and exposure -
Apparel and New camping and fishing equipment unvieled
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Fall Catalog Created and voted #1 by Postage Magazine
This helped spread the word of LL Bean further than the states surrounding Maine and reach further into the country -
Elenor Roosevelt visits Store
LL presents her a trout knife for the president -
Bean weathers Great Depression
After a dip in sales for a few years after the crash, annual sales hit 1 mil for the first time in 1937 -
LL Bean Outfits army and navy during WWII
This helped Bean not only increase sales from outfitting every solider but also helped them gain popularity in the country -
LL Bean Writes Hunting, Fishing, and Camping
After many customers asked him for tips on big game, waterfowl, and fishing -
Freeport Store removes locks on front doors and is open 24 hours
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Ladies Dept is Formed
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Sales flatten throughout the 1960's
no longer did sales continue to increase by 25% or more, sales began to flatten, as products began to be outdated and the formation of competing sportsman companies like Eddie Bauer, Patagonia, and cabelas -
Found LL. Dies
The company closes for the day and receives 50,000 condolence letters from customers -
LL's grandson Leon Gorman Takes over as CEO
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Sales rise after leadership change
When Leon Gorman took over as CEO, sales were $3.5 mil with $60,000 in profits, after his first year as CEO sales rose close to $5 mil -
Sales hit $30 Mil and Company grow to over 400 employees
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110,000 sq ft distribution center is built in Freeport MA
Relocating manufacturing and distribution helped the company speed up growth, ugraded to 310,000 sq ft 4 years later -
Outdoor Discover Program is Formed
Programs formed to be educational in outdoor activities, which has become a large portion of their business. In 2006, this program passed over 150,000 total participants -
LL Bean is Associated with Prep Culture
After making an appearance in The Preppy Handbook, sales rose 42% -
70% of new customers in 1980's are women
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First Factory store is opened in North Conway, New Hampshire
After an increase in mail orders -
Recession in 1990's slows sales and returns increase
Also caused the company to lay off 10% of hourly and salaried employees for a 2 year period -
Sales rise 18% to $743 mil
The same year the first Japanese location was opened along with a childrens line for the first time -
Sales hit $1.08 billion in 1996
But sales remained stagnant for the following years, only hiting $1.07B in 1999 -
Bean responds by joing the E-commerce business
Along with improved fulfillment center -
Sales remain stagnant and japanese stores have trouble
With competitors such as REI and GAP taking some of Bean's business the Japanese sales also took a hit following the 1990's Asian financial crisis -
Chris McCormick becomes first non-family CEO
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Bean Commits to Building only LEED buildings to help improve environmental impact
since then over 20 buildings have been built to these specs -
Bean addresses economic loss with help of Fortuna consulting
This helped them see an issue in their inventory size, and sales began to rise after a reduction in overall inventory -
Stephen Smith becomes new CEO
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Boycott of LL bean begins
After Linda Bean, Chairman for the company is found to have contributed $60,000 to Trump's presidential race -
LL Bean gets rid of Famous Return policy
