L.L. Bean has for so many decades enjoyed a much deserved reputation as a great iconic American company, with legions of fiercely loyal customers spanning generations, through their impressive clothes and customer service. But while that same high level of customer service endures, their offerings have taken another (and unfortunate) path over the past few years.
So here are the top fifteen ways L.L. Bean can save itself.
1. Get rid of Signature
See L.L. Bean Signature Fall 2010 Review and L.L. Bean Signature Line Review.
2. Close all of the mall stores
And consequently eliminate all the items, such as those with giant motifs and giant buttons, that are designed to fill them.
3. Improve, rather than "improve", staple items
Incremental improvement, such as better stitching and thicker fabrics, is critical and expected. But they should stop radically redesigning or just plain cheapening clothes and calling it "improved". Customers don’t want to waste time trying to figure out what khaki pants to buy every time they need a new pair. Change is not always a good thing.
See Four Classic Items that Aren't Anymore.
4. Stop discontinuing customers’ staple items
L.L. Bean no longer offers dozens of fabulous items (such as the Natural/Navy Birdseye sweater).
See Five items to be brought back.
5. Bring back items from decades ago
But they should not "redesign", "reinterpret", or "update" them. Any changes, if done at all, should be to recommit to functionality and purpose, not trendiness and lower production costs.
See Authentic Synthetics? Barbour and how to navigate the challenge of new materials.
6. Mainstream more of their clothing from their hunting and fishing departments
This is where quality and functionality are at the forefront.
7. Increase the “Made in Maine” items; Decrease the "Made in China" items
They have done this brilliantly with the Bean Boot, and Boat and Tote production.
8. Get rid of Signature
9. Embrace the organic and sustainable fabrics
Even Wal-Mart offers organic cotton.10. Spend more money on quality materials and construction; less on advertising and public relations
11. Stop slim-fitting so many items
Most people are not so slim, and even those who are don’t always want super tight clothes. This is probably a trend whose reversal is not far away.
12. Stop bathing so many cotton items in stain resistant, wrinkle resistant chemicals
Many items labeled 100% cotton feel more like polyester. Though a lot of customers appreciate some of the properties the chemicals enable, there should be identical, untreated alternatives for the core items (like the Men’s Double L Chinos, for example).
13. Overhaul, yet again, the Women’s offerings
L.L. Bean has never really gotten this right, although in the past there have been enough staples one could ferret out to compile a classic wardrobe. This is not true at present.
14. Style more effectively the Women’s classic items in catalogs
A great many classic items over the years have not been showcased effectively in the catalogs, combining bad colors, etc., and therefore giving a frumpier look to classic items that should look great.
15. Get rid of Signature
L.L. Bean is on the verge of reestablishing itself as a shadow of its former self. It is throwing away so much good will and loyalty built up over the decades. There is still time to turn the company around. But not much.
See also:
9 comments:
I completely agree with the increase Made in Maine, decrease Made in China excerpt... Undoubtedly with such a change would come better quality. My dad has many Bean shirts from 20-30 years ago that still look just as good as the day he bought them but the ones they sell now are terribly lower in durability and quality.
What has become of my beloved LL Bean? I noticed that in the past year I have returned all items ordered except a chamois shirt and a classic tote bag.
I've been ordering for 50 years ... where to turn?
(I agree with all your points!)
Well said, Muffy. I agree.
Well said, and I agree with all of your points, as well, especially with your points on the women's collection and the awful chemical treatments of the clothing. I will also add, again, that Land's End, JJill and Eddie Bauer all have clothing sized up to a true 4x, and LL Bean does not, and their 3x is really a 1x. I would prefer to buy locally, locally-made, beautiful, quality clothing for my plus frame, but sadly, this isn't an option.
Muffy, what do you think of the Maine Isle Flip-Flops? I've been eyeing them, and they have great reviews.
I'd be happy if LL Bean would sell Made In Maine items...also Made In New England, Made in Canada, Made in Norway...just authentic, quality items!
I know this is old, but it seems like the most appropriate place for my comment. Since L.L. Bean did not post my review which I wrote a week ago (and has since posted one 5-star one written well after I wrote mine) I feel the need to make my experience known somehow!
I am the Anonymous who posted elsewhere about having grown up about 15 minutes from L.L. Bean, having been a life-long Bean's customer, and being disappointed by the decline in quality. I also mentioned that I recently bought, in the Freeport store, a new pair of camp mocs. I was surprised that they were made in El Salvador, and not in the USA. Well, less than 3 weeks after buying them, after wearing them only a few times, one came unstitched at the spot where the side of the shoe meets the "tongue." I was just walking along and noticed a long white thread hanging down and realized what had happened. This should not happen to ANY new shoes, let alone L.L. Bean shoes.
I was grateful to have an outlet nearby so I could return them, but the outlet does not carry the camp mocs (other than, maybe, defective shoes) and they were also not willing to re-order the shoes for me. They gave me a giftcard for the purchase price. Also, when asked if I had a receipt, I said no, but that I had the credit card I had used to purchase them (and it happens to be the L.L. Bean credit card.) I was told that was useless, that they don't have access to credit card information, for my safety. But that doesn't make much sense - all I was going to do was hand over the card (as I would if I were making a purchase on it) so that they could call up the purchase in their database. This is done all the time in the Freeport store (along with also looking up whether I have any "coupon dollars".) Instead, she took my name and wanted me to give her a purchase date so she could find the sale. In short - the outlets do not have the same level of customer service as the "real" store does, and they don't even seem to have access to the same systems. I was most annoyed, though, that the L.L. Bean website (and presumably the catalog) advertises the camp mocs as being "still handsewn today" but does not mention where they are made.
I wrote a balanced, rational, not overly-emotional or inappropriate review explaining that my shoes came unstitched, and mentioning that the shoes are made in El Salvador rather than in the US, and it was not posted. I do wonder if they are trying to conceal the fact that they are not handsewn in Maine. I'm also disturbed by what seems to be artificial inflation of the overall "rating" by leaving out some reviews which gave a product a low score. I've submitted another review, and I will see if it gets posted.
Just to add - there are some "low-score" reviews of this product, but they are all along the lines of "I really WANTED to love this shoe,"... but it didn't fit my very wide feet, or it rubbed the top of my high-arched feet, or they were too stiff. There are none which say anything about construction flaws, and there is even one (from a Maine reviewer) who says, of the camp moc, "So few things are made here in the US, and even less handmade in Maine; so I WANTED to like these...." Well, maybe in 2008 when that review was written they were still hand-made in Maine, but I don't think so. The description of the shoe is very cleverly written to imply that they are still made in Maine. But descriptions of those products which are truly made in Maine state very explicitly that the products are made in Maine.
Muffy,
Regarding stop "slim fitting" so many items....
Brooks Bros. should take/follow your advice as well.
They now have FAR TOO MANY dress shirts in SLIM FIT and too many of their casual trousers for men cut the same way.
Claudio Del Vecchio is an ass for appealing so blatantly to younger, skinnier folks while continuing to IGNORE his long time customers like me who are many years removed from slim fit.
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