It is no secret who dresses this cowboy, and recently several friends-acquaintances have been asking about modern day dealing with L.L. Bean, the giant clothing and outdoors equipment outfitter of Freeport, Maine.
I may just know whereof I speak, because, one way or another, I have been dealing with Bean for 60 of its 100 years.
The company has outlasted others I patronized back in the days when not much of the good outdoors “stuff” could be bought in Alberta: Herters, Abercrombie and Fitch, Fly Fisherman’s Bookcase and Tackle Service, etc.
When I was 14 I discovered that the finest footwear for pheasant hunting was a strange-looking, but very light rubber bottomed, leather-topped waterproof boot that fit me so perfectly that the hunting wife of one of the Americans who hunted pheasants from Brooks in those days gave them to me.
Those boots were invented by Leon Leonwood Bean and, 100 years ago, in October 1912, he started the company, published a catalogue and started selling the boot, the Maine Hunting Shoe,” by mail for $3.50 a pair, with the complete satisfaction or money back guarantee that is still a Bean promise to this day for all its products.
The Maine Hunting Shoe is still in production today, more than ever in fact, owing to a retro trend on college campuses. Sales grew from 150,000 pairs to 400,000 last year, and are expected to reach 500,000 pairs this anniversary year.
It is more than a retro trend, I believe. These boots are so comfortable that, if I could have got away with it, I would have worn them in the office and in court, back in those days. A recent count disclosed I own six pairs in various heights, weights, and linings.
In addition to hunting, fishing, hiking, cycling, camping clothing and equipment, Bean is now heavily into leisure and dress attire, other footwear, warm clothing and other shoes and boots for women, men and kids, even stuff for pets.
Sales were $1.78 billion in 2006, and, even in a recession, $1.44 billion in 2010.
Like most men, I have never been fond of shopping. Now that my mobility is not much, going from one huge store to another is even more of a pain. Combining marketing and service innovations with modern technology, Bean has made shopping a brief, intense pleasure for me and millions of other customers.
Unlike many big-mail order suppliers, Bean still snail-mails several of its print catalogues each year to its customers. If you are not on the mailing list, just search L.L. Bean on the Internet, or go to www.llbean.com/Canada to get the on-line catalogue.
You can order on-line if you wish, but I prefer to call the toll free number to order, because I am wary of launching my card numbers into cyberspace, and also because, having one of Bean’s bright, cheerful, knowledgeable and helpful telephone clerks all to yourself for a few moments, is an unusual modern shopping experience.
One clerk recently helped me through the vexing math of sizing for a jacket I was ordering for Herself. Call anytime: Bean is open 24/365.
If you give your email address, you will quickly receive confirmation that your order has been received and is being processed.
Check it to make sure there are no errors. Within 24 hours you will receive notification that your order has been shipped and an estimate of how long it will take to reach you.
Generally, on the exact day estimated, your doorbell will announce the arrival of your order and, soon after, an email will advise your order has arrived. One other Bean perk is that shipping to Canada is free. But, best of all Bean features, is that what it sells is always tested for top quality, whether it makes the product on site, as with the Maine hunting shoe, or more commonly, has other products made to its exacting specifications elsewhere. If an item is not what you want for any reason, there is that 100-year-old guarantee of complete satisfaction or your money back, or a satisfactory replacement found.
In all my years dealing with Bean, I have had to return only one product that did not fit me correctly, and that was mostly owing to my ordering error.
So, what do I like? Bean shirts are great, such as their classic chamois cloth and stonewashed canvas shirts. Back when I wore dress shirts, they all came from Bean at half the price and twice the quality that I could find elsewhere. I favour their 1912 Jeans, canvas and denim in summer, corduroy in winter.
I could not survive without several Bean fleece vests, or without the Bean classic Warm-up Jacket, wind and water repellent besides warm.
My old bones are still being warmed by the chamois cloth, red and black hunter plaid robe Bean supplied 35 years ago: I’ll probably be buried in it; also wearing Maine Hunting Shoes, of course.
Bob Scammell is an awarding winning outdoors writer living in Red Deer.