FREEPORT – Customer service, dedicated employees and wise investments helped vault Freeport-based L.L. Bean to net sales of $1.56 billion for 2013, company spokesman Mac McKeever said Monday.
In a press statement released Friday, L.L. Bean announced the net sales represent a 3 percent increase from 2012. On the basis of that performance, the company announced it will pay 8 percent performance bonuses to approximately 5,000 full- and part-time employees.
McKeever said that L.L. Bean has done a great job building on a strong, loyal customer base.
“There’s an affinity for brand, and it’s due largely to customer service,” McKeever said. “We’re constantly driving to improve our customer service relations. It’s ingrained in our corporate culture.”
McKeever added that, back in 2010, when the economy was still in recession, the company made sound businesses investments that are paying off.
Chris McCormick, L.L. Bean president and chief executive officer, said in the press release that L.L.Bean “has performed very well in a marketplace that continued to struggle – with economic uncertainty, political distractions and shaky consumer confidence.”
Shawn Gorman, chairman of the board of trustees, also thanked Bean employees.
“On behalf of the board of directors, I would like to express our appreciation to the L.L. Bean employees that made this happen,” Gorman said in the press release. “This year-end bonus is in recognition of their hard work, and a tribute to the strategies and investments we set in motion in 2010 that positioned the company for growth. We have an amazingly talented team in place and are pleased to continue the family’s commitment to keeping employee and shareholder interests aligned and reward our employees for their hard work, dedication and achievements.”
L.L. Bean also said in the release that it reported to employees the additional contribution of $40 million to fully fund its defined benefit pension program. Combined with the bonus, this represents a $78.5 million investment in L.L.Bean employees, the company said.
McCormick went on to elaborate on the results of 2013.
“We have made substantial investments in our website as well as in our internal processes, all with a goal of providing better product assortment and quality service to our customers,” he said in the release. “These investments have paid off in increased online sales, greater productivity and wide appeal for new fits and styles in men’s, women’s and outerwear, as well as an expanded active line. In addition, we saw growth in sporting equipment with strong performance in our hunting and fishing lines as people continue to spend more time outdoors. Our Maine-made L.L.Bean production is at an all-time high, demonstrating Bean’s first product is as relevant today as it was 101 years ago.”
In the new fiscal year, L.L. Bean will make the largest single-year capital investment with an additional $100 million in the web, retail expansion and business systems, the company said.
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