L.L. Bean

L.L.Bean started from making a hundred pair of boots, to becoming one of America largest mail order retailer of high quality outdoor goods and apparel for men, women and children. Leon Leonwood Bean founded L.L. Bean in 1912; the company headquarters is in Freeport, Maine. Leon Leonwood Bean founded his business on a belief in honesty, commitment to quality, customer satisfaction and a passion for the outdoors.

Leon Leonwood Bean was an avid outdoorsman that decided that he could improve on the typical hunting boots. He had a local shoemaker stitch a pair of waterproof shoe rubber to leather tops. Then he field-tested them himself to see first hand if they was any good. In 1912 he sold 100 pairs of the boots and "attached a tag guaranteeing 100% satisfaction. Within a matter of weeks, the shoes began coming back. Ninety pairs were returned, the rubber bottoms separated from the tops" (L.L.Bean.com). Leon Leonwood Bean make good on his promise of 100% satisfaction guaranteed by replacing all boots that was returned and established a business with his customers that is still going strong today. That value lives on today at L.L.Bean. They still measure success by the customer's satisfaction and the guarantee upon which the company was founded that says

"Our products are guaranteed to give 100% satisfaction in every way. Return anything purchased from us at any time if it proves otherwise. We will replace it, refund your purchase price or credit your credit card. We do not want you to have anything from L.L. Bean that is not completely satisfactory" (L.L.Bean.com).

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L.L.Bean doesn't just say this, but really lives by it. My dad had a pair of the Maine hunting boots for years. He told me one day that the boots started leaking at the seams and I told him to send them back to L.L.Bean with a note telling them what was wrong and that you would like a new pair. In about three weeks from sending them back he got a new pair of the Maine hunting boots in the mail with no questions asked. So L.L.Bean really does live by the 100% satisfaction guarantee even if you have the stuff for years before you become dissatisfied with it. How many retail store will give its customers 100% satisfaction guarantee no questions asked? I can't think of one other company in the outdoors goods and clothing business that will do that.

L.L. Bean started with one store in Freeport Maine in 1917. "To improve service, L.L. removed the locks on the store's front door 50 years ago and threw away the keys - since then, customers have come and gone at all hours of the day and night." (L.L.Bean.com). That store draws over 3 million visitors each year. L.L. Bean had that only retail store until 2000 when it open a store in McLean Virginia at Tysons Corner Center an upscale mall in Northern Virginia. I visited that store in McLean Virginia just last week when I was in that area on leave. It was the best store that I have ever been to for the following reasons. It was very clean and had wide isle that more than one person could walk through and stop to look at the stuff with out having people run in to you or you have to move so people could go around you. It had very good lighting so you can see what you were looking at. Plus it had an indoor trout pond and waterfall. My sister, a manger at Saks Fifth Avenue store in Virginia, was with me and even made the comment that the

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store was very well set up with nice wide isles and the sales people were friendly and very helpful when you asked them a question. We had went to the store to see what it was like and so I could look at one of the only three L.L. Bean retail stores, the other being at Columbia, Maryland about 50 miles from the store in McLean, Virginia. She had told me that L.L.Bean had selected this area because of all the catalog business that it did in this area. L.L.Bean had done its marketing research before making a move to open up a retail store outside of its flagship store in Freeport, Maine. It was the first store that it opened outside of Maine since it opened it original store. It opened its third store within 50 miles of its second store when it put in a store at Columbia, Maryland. The night that I was in the store in Virginia it's was having it after Christmas sales. It didn't have any big banner up advertising a sale. It only had some 5x9 inch sign on top of the rack of clothes that was on sale. I only saw a small ad for its sale in the Washington Post newspaper the day before. L.L. Bean doesn't have to advertise its sales or business because its customers will do it for them. You will only find the L.L.Bean label or brand in its stores. It doesn't carry any other brand in it stores. I think it is the only outdoor goods and apparel stores that does that. I have been in R.E.I., Cabela and Bass Pro Shop, all larges retail outdoors goods stores, but they all carry other name brands of goods like Columbia, Timberland, Browning, Carhartt, Rocky, Danner and other. You will not find any of them at L.L.Bean. I think it's that way because of it 100% satisfaction guarantee. L.L.Bean prefers not to carry other brand names because they would not feel comfortable placing a 100% satisfaction guaranteed on goods that are not their own.

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L.L. Bean also has retail factory stores in Delaware, Maryland, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon and Virginia. At the factory stores you can shop for a wide and ever changing variety of goods all at discount prices. These goods include items that are first-quality that have been discontinued, overstocked, discontinued fabrics or second quality items that are irregular. I also went to the factory store in Virginia at Potomac Mills Factory Outlet mall. At that store I bought an adventure duffle bag for 20 dollar that was said to be second quality irregular but I could not find any wrong with it. About three year ago I bought the same bag from it web site for 60 dollar. Today that same bag still sells for 60 dollar in its catalog and web site. I like the quality of the bag and the