L. L Bean Executive Summary

L.L.Bean’s humble beginnings date back 1912, when Leon Leonwood Bean founded the outdoor apparel company as a one-man operation in Freeport, Maine. The inspiration for Bean’s business came from his invention of the ‘Maine Hunting Shoe’, a rubber boot with a leather upper, which later became known as the ‘Bean Boot’. After creating the Maine Hunting Shoe, Bean marketed it by distributing three-page mail flyers to hunting license owners. Unknowing at the time, Bean birthed his now world-famous mail-order business. In 1917, he opened his first retail store. Soon, Bean’s business became renowned for its direct marketing strategy, backed by unequaled customer service and class-leading product support (“About L.L.Bean: Company Information”, 2015).
When Bean passed away in 1967 at the age of 94, his grandson, Leon Gorman, took over control of the company. At the time of Bean’s death, L.L.Bean averaged around $2 million in annual sales, but stagnation had started to set in. Under the leadership of Leon Gorman, L.L.Bean experienced exponential growth as it added addition stores, expanded its direct-marketing catalog business, and re-engineered its supply chain (“About L.L.Bean: Company History”, 2015). By the time Gorman stepped down as CEO in 2001, L.L.Bean’s annual sales had reached a record-breaking $1.14 billion per year (Malloy,