L.L.Bean cites 'solid' results in tough retail climate, to give 5% employee bonuses
Photo / Peter Van Allen
L.L.Bean said sales grew by 1% last year, to $1.6 billion. It also said it will pay a 5% performance bonus to about 5,400 employees, plus an additional 2% enhancement contribution to 401(k) plans.
Outdoor retailer L.L.Bean announced that it will pay a 5% performance bonus to about 5,400 employees plus an additional 2% enhancement contribution to 401(k) plans.
It also said net revenue rose 1% to $1.6 billion in 2018, during which it also completed the upgrade of its internal legacy technology and warehouse systems that helped it process a record number of daily orders, reach its highest on-time delivery and the lowest customer product backlogs in decades.
“Measured against corporate goals and expectations, we performed well in a very competitive industry and a very difficult retail economy,” Steve Smith, L.L.Bean’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
“We are on a journey towards growing our top line and the improvement to our bottom line is a critical first step,” he added. “Today we thank and appreciate the hard work and dedication of our employees, the loyalty of our customers and the quality of our products and services.”
The news comes less than a week after the latest U.S. Commerce Department showed that retail sales nationwide stabilized in January, rising 0.2%, after a 1.6% slump in December that was the steepest since 2009. February figures are due to be released on April 1.
L.L. Bean said it invested nearly $45 million in employee benefits in 2018. That includes a discretionary cash bonus, 401 (k) contributions and enhancements, expanded paid time off, paid parental leave and eldercare support and an unspecified holiday gift.
L.L. Bean operates 44 stores in 18 states, as well as 28 stores in Japan. The 220,000-square-foot flagship campus in Freeport welcomes more than 3 million visitors every year.
The Freeport-based company has a co-branding collaboration with Gorham-based startup Flowfold, with whom it recently launched a new small-batch version of the classic Bean Boot using Flowfold’s water-resistant sailcloth fabric. James Morin, Flowfold’s chief operating officer, told Mainebiz in a recent interview that the startup doesn’t take its relationships with L.L.Bean and other large retailers for granted, saying, “Once you have that trust, you have to do everything in your power not to lose it.”
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