Big doings over at LL Bean

lancecolonel said:
ll bean had to change their return policy, in part, because people were buying items from thrift stores, yard sales, etc and “returning” them. I do believe the return policy is still generous if you have a receipt.
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in addition to those returning items that were definitely past their useful life... returners weren't "not satisfied" with the product that lasted the 15 yrs, but simply took advantage of the policy.
 
Don’t blame them for changing the return policy: it was being abused by dishonest people. Not interested in paying more for those abuses.

Remember my brother getting the catalogs in the early 60’s. Fishing and hunting gear, Bean boots, and that was about it. Compared to Eddie Bauer and North Face they’re still true to school.

When I lived in Portsmouth NH and we had nothing to do on a winter weeknight, we’d see how fast we could drive to LL Bean. It was still the old building and you walked up a flight of stairs to the [one] store. Had quite a selection of chamois flannel shirts.

Currently own bean boots, hiking boots, ski parka, ski gloves, down parka, down vest, rain gear, chamois shirts, sweater, turtlenecks, and a long “commuter coat” they don’t seem to make anymore but is still the best choice for cold weather spectating.
 
Was that store still 24 hours?
I see some references to 24 hours, Google has normal hours though
 
The flagship store was always open 24 hrs up until Covid when nobody was going out to shop. They had to improvise a chain and padlock for the entrance because they never had locks when it was built.
 
Rockrivr1 said:
When they changed their return policy you knew they were heading downhill.
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Do you know WHY they changed it? Because people were scamming the unconditional return-for-cash. Sometimes, we can't have nice things.


HARRYM said:
Once they had to admit that over 75% of their merchandise was made overseas the shine came off the apple.

It's also the reason why they had to change their return policy.
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That was back in the 80's as well. Not anything new.

So what we want is a store that stays 100% true to their roots, is 100% accessible, makes goods in the USA AND is affordable.

Best I can do maybe 2 out of 4. LOL
 
Do they still re-sole old boots for free if you send them in? I recall doing that a couple decades ago.
 
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Dennis in MA said:
Hard ot get a flannel pattern to match Crocs. Ask me how I know. ;)
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I only knew one guy that wore crocs before. He also wore shorts to the office. Yeah, the guy wasn't all there IMO. Seems pretty common with people who do that. [rofl2]

I typically get either the grey or darker blue chamois shirt from LL Beaners. Never got into patterned shirts of any kind. Give me solid colors for all. Being color blind might be part of why I do that. ;)
 
Mountain said:
Glad somebody on this forum found something they liked at LL Bean.
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Mountain said:
Glad somebody on this forum found something they liked at LL Bean.
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My friend would get out of work at Midnight in the early 70's and we would head up to deer hunt and stop in about 3AM. Been 20 years since the last time in there. Mostly over priced items now. Not for me anymore.
 
track65 said:
My friend would get out of work at Midnight in the early 70's and we would head up to deer hunt and stop in about 3AM. Been 20 years since the last time in there. Mostly over priced items now. Not for me anymore.
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What really sucks is that both LL Bean and Cabelas have gone to sh!t for outdoor gear. I think it's not a long term strategy and simply no more complicated than shortsighted finance decisions- but these brands were built on solid gear and clothing that real outdoorsmen would use. They are pretty much disposable larping supply houses now.
 
Rockrivr1 said:
When they changed their return policy you knew they were heading downhill.
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They changed the return policy because of the people that took advantage of it.

We wrote some software years ago for them. And we heard stories about people buying stuff in the goodwill store and then returning it after several years. That was never the intent of their policies, but it was happening so much they had to change.

Truth is if a good customer comes in with a legit problem they still have the authority to provide the warranty despite being over 1 year old.

As usual, people screw up a good thing.
 
Golddiggie said:
I only knew one guy that wore crocs before. He also wore shorts to the office. Yeah, the guy wasn't all there IMO. Seems pretty common with people who do that. [rofl2]

I typically get either the grey or darker blue chamois shirt from LL Beaners. Never got into patterned shirts of any kind. Give me solid colors for all. Being color blind might be part of why I do that. ;)
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Kindred spirit. I've MEMORIZED every color of every item I have in my wardrobe. Because of that.

I've been addding some green items the last few years. I stay the F away from green. Could be brown. Could be gray. Might even be blue. Depends on the shade. LOL

Patterned is OK in layers. I find a plaid shirt by itself can be a tad aggressive.


Funny color blind story - it's 1990. Gulf War I. I'm working at Bentley Collitch. Lower Campus. The school puts a YELLOW ribbon on the WHITE steeple of the liberry. All of my coworkers are admiring it from hundreds of yards away. Because it's on the white and it's a bright sunny day, there is ZERO chance my handicapped eyes can see it at all. They were all adults (I was 20) and couldn't figure out why I couldn't see it. F'ing maroons. LOL
 
Golddiggie said:
I've mostly gotten shirts from LL Bean over the years. Nice chamois shirts for cooler weather wear. . . .
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I have worn out two chamois cloth shirts from ~ 30 years ago. A couple months ago stopped into an LL Bean store to buy new ones. But after getting hands on and seeing how they're now basically shit cloth, I left empty handed. Decent price point, but not a good product.

Not that I can recommend them because of their silly high prices, but I wound up with Filson moleskin shirts (catch them on a one-a-year sale and they're more reasonable).
 
Dennis in MA said:
Except, if old crumudgeons don't buy enough stuff, they either go out of business or adapt.

Now, I'm continually shocked at the # of 80's style takeovers that absollutely bankrupt companies that have occurred over the last 2 decades without a peep from anyone in the investing or journalism communities.
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Lechemere Sales. Back in the 60s and 70s, their policy of "we just add $xx to the wholesale price of every refrigerator / washing machine / whatever" was great. Always shopped there if I had the chance. Then, the original owning family retired (they kept running the place after they sold it years earlier), and without them the place eventually went to big-box mode, changed the profit model, got sold to Montgomery Ward, and died with MW's bankruptcy.
 
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peter_nh said:
If you like heavy flannel shirts the Duluth Trading are nicer than LL Bean offerings, at a somewhat competitive price when on sale.
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I bought a couple of Duluth heavyweight flannel shirts a few years ago on sale and didn’t realize how heavy they actually were. I use them as winter jackets on days when it’s not brutally cold. They are way too heavy for a shirt but very nice none the less.

I mostly buy Duluth and Carhartt stuff since they last me many years of normal use. I have shirts from both companies that are over 15 years old and still look decent. Granted I’m not working construction anymore, so YMMV.
 

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