The Magic Touch
After a period of flat sales and marketing missteps, L.L. Bean is riding high again. It owes its success to recapturing the mystique of Maine.
By Cynthia Anderson, photography by Carl D. Walsh
LL. Bean on a Friday night is surely a place like no other. At a time when most stores have long since closed, people stream past the outdoor racks of boats and into the flagstone entry where -- like amusement park visitors or pilgrims to a shrine -- they pause to consider their next move. Some people are here to shop. All are here to partake of the singular L.L. Bean "value experience," as CEO Chris McCormick puts it.The nearby trout pond attracts the shopping-averse and sometimes the adventurous; a pre-schooler wrests from his father's grasp and almost topples in.
