L.L. Bean - Fashion Company Profile
L.L.Bean is the Freeport, Maine outdoor retailer founded by Leon Leonwood Bean in 1912 - still private, still family-owned, and still selling the boot it was founded on.
Company Snapshot
- Status
- Operating
- Public or Private
- Private - still family-owned by the Bean family
- Headquarters
- Freeport, Maine, United States
- Founded
- 1912, by Leon Leonwood Bean, to sell his Maine Hunting Shoe by mail order
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Company Profile
L.L.Bean sells outdoor clothing, footwear and gear through its catalog, website and stores, anchored by the Freeport flagship that famously never closes. The Outdoor Discovery programs, the service model and the company's 2018 figures are kept on the history page.
The launch fact is as spare as the motto. L.L.Bean was launched in 1912 with a three-page flyer, offering one product, the Maine Hunting Shoe. One boot, three pages, no store - a mail-order beginning in which the product had to carry the entire reputation, because there was nothing else to sell. The store came later and became the legend: L.L. opened his original store in Freeport in 1917, and the flagship now stands at over 200,000 square feet, attracting over 3 million visitors each year. It is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and has not had locks on its doors since 1951. Inside, customers find many species of fish in a 3,500-gallon fish tank and indoor trout pond, and can dine at the in-store 1912 Cafe.
L.L.Bean History
The earlier record for this company - its history, past brand line-ups, figures and photographs from the periods described - is kept on a separate page for historical reference.
L.L.Bean History & Historical Profile →Common Questions
Is L.L.Bean publicly traded?
No - it has remained a privately held, family-owned company since 1912.
Where is L.L.Bean headquartered?
Freeport, Maine, where Leon Leonwood Bean founded it in 1912 and where its flagship store campus stands.
What was L.L.Bean's first product?
The Maine Hunting Shoe - a boot with leather uppers stitched to rubber bottoms, sold by mail order from 1912 and known today as the Bean Boot.
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