L.L.Bean sets goal of 100 retail stores by 2020
L.L.Bean Inc. told employees in a memo Wednesday that it plans to quadruple the number of retail stores by 2020, adding to its catalog and online shopping experiences, according a published report.
The Bangor Daily News reported that President and CEO Chris McCormick told workers in a memo Wednesday the company will open four new stores this year — adding to its 26 full-price retail stores and 10 outlet stores nationwide — and will accelerate the pace of the retail expansion to reach the goal of having “at least 100” stores by 2020. The Freeport company also has 20 stores in Japan and about 50 locations in China, although most are departments within other stores.
The Freeport-based company saw its sales grow 3% in the last fiscal year to $1.6 billion, marking five straight years of increasing revenue, the newspaper reported. Following a meeting of the family-owned company’s board Wednesday, L.L.Bean also announced a 5% bonus for its 5,300 year-round employees.
McCormick said the company is midway through a $150 million capital plan to upgrade its systems and plans to spend an additional $100 million on its growth initiatives.
L.L.Bean spokeswoman Carolyn Beem told the newspaper the company has found that the best-performing retail stores are about 15,000 square feet and are near areas where it can offer its Outdoor Discovery Schools.
In November, the company opened a 13,000-square-foot retail store at the entrance to the popular Park Meadows Retail Resort, near Denver, Colo. That opening coincided with mid-November openings of new store locations in Burlington, Vt., and in Bloomington, Minn., at the Mall of America, the largest shopping mall in the United States with more than stores and 40 million annual visitors.
Source: Bangor Daily News
This updates an earlier version of the story posted mid-afternoon Wednesday.
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