Privately-held L.L. Bean plans to triple its U.S. store count to at least 100 stores by 2020.
The venerated retailer, which sold $1.61 billion of outdoor apparel, footwear and equipment as well as home furnishings in the fiscal year ending Feb. 22, operates just 36 locations in the United States. That includes 26 full-price retail stores and 10 outlets in 12 states east of the Continental Divide.
The company only opened its first retail locations west of the Mississippi last year at the Mall of America in Minnesota and the Park Meadows retail resort south of Denver.
L.L.Bean plans to open four new stores in the United States this year and accelerate openings thereafter to hit its target of at least 100 stores by 2020.
L.L. Bean CEO Chris McCormick disclosed the target March 11 when the company reported fiscal 2015 sales had grown 3 percent. Website sales grew more than twice as fast, or by 7 percent, but the growth came from store and catalog channels as well. L.L. Bean mails millions of catalogs to customers in about 170 countries every year and was also selling its products through more than 50 retail locations in China at the end of 2013.
The company will pay a cash bonus of 5 percent of annual pay to approximately 5,300 eligible employees for their performance in fiscal 2015.
“The long-term investments we’ve made in the business, and continue to make, to enhance the customer experience, are paying off,” McCormick said last week. “We are expanding our retail presence, upgrading our operating systems, and have made significant investments to grow our web presence. Additionally, we have a highly engaged and committed workforce without whom our results in 2014 would not have been possible.”
