L.l. bean family tree
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Bean, L. L.
Sculpture of L.L. Bean in Freeport, 2001
Leon Leonwood Bean (1872-1967) was born and raised in Greenwood in rural Maine. Orphaned at an early age, he worked at odd jobs, including a stint on a farm in Hebron, and did as much hunting and fishing that he could.
It was not until he was 39 years old in 1911 that his business sense began to germinate. He claimed that he had invented a new light weight, dry, warm boot he called the “Maine Hunting Shoe.” Bean, working in his brothers dry goods store in Freeport, sent a brochure to holders of Maine hunting licenses promoting the footwear.
Luckily for the purchasers he had guaranteed satisfaction, since most of them sprung a leak. Luckily for Bean, his immediate refund of payment and decision to improve the design established a reputation for excellence that propelled his retail sales to new heights.
By 1917 the business outgrew his brothers store and by 1925, with added products and 25 employees, he was grossing $130,000 per year. For a view of Bean’s store in 1936, see this amateur film clip from the
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L.L.Bean
American retail company
For this company's founder, see Leon Leonwood Bean.
L.L.Bean is an American privately held retail company that was founded in 1912 by Leon Leonwood Bean. The company, headquartered in Freeport, Maine (where it was founded), specializes in clothing and outdoor recreation equipment.
History
L.L.Bean was founded in 1912 by its namesake, hunter and fisherman Leon Leonwood Bean, in Freeport, Maine. The company began as a one-room operation selling a single product, the Maine Hunting Shoe, also known as duck boots[5] and later as Bean Boots. Bean had developed a waterproof boot, which is a combination of lightweight leather uppers and rubber bottoms that he sold to hunters. He obtained a list of nonresident Maine hunting license holders, prepared a descriptive mail order circular, set up a shop in his brother's basement in Freeport and started a nationwide mail-order business. The company's first hunting boot was sewn by Gertrude Goldrup, whose sewing machine is on display in the flagship store.[6]
By 1912, Bean
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Leon L. Bean
Founder of L.L. Bean Inc.
Founded: 1912
"Sell good merchandise at a reasonable profit, treat your customers like human beings, and they will always come back for more."-Leon L. Bean
Leon Leonwood Bean, known to his friends and loyal customers simply as "L.L.," never intended to become a mail order giant. All he really wanted to do was keep his feet dry. But there were much bigger plans in his future.
Like many entrepreneurs, Bean's early business pursuits were less than stellar. He'd achieved little success in various ventures ranging from selling soap to working in a creamery. But his unremarkable career began to change when he invented a unique product that would make him famous and become the cornerstone of one of the world's largest international mail order companies.
According to legend, in 1911, while managing his brother Ervin's store in Freeport, Maine, the avid outdoorsman decided he was tired of getting his feet soaked while hunting deer in the boggy hinterlands of Maine. In a flash of inspiration, he hit on the notion of sewing lightweight, comforta
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