L.L. Bean

Yuck. Pushy sales people. I’m never going back. Everyone in the store wants to flatter me into buying their credit cards, their special offers, and all the rest of their overpriced products. I would have enjoyed the store a lot more if the employees didn’t make me feel like a hunted gazelle. I felt like I had no freedom to shop without someone pouncing agendas on my leisure browsing. Never going back.

Based on a few trips to The Bean I’m amazed at how few patrons are browsing, or perhaps I’m just not visiting in the prime hours. The biggest competitors for L.L. Bean would be REI, Eddy Bauer and Cabela’s. The prices seem in line with the other stores and about the same quality depending on the article. I found a shirt I wanted which was marked down drastically from a week ago, but oddly only one on the rack (which was my size) was marked down.
I appreciate that employees don’t ask questions or stare, other customers may be looking for offered help but I liked to be left alone and I’ll ask if I have a question. Another cool feature was help yourself changing rooms. At many other stores now I have to ask a clerk to use the changing room so they can unlock and I suppose keep track of what may be going on in there.
Some of the less enthusiastic observations:
* As a man there is far less selection for us. The floor is ²⁄₃ women’s clothes.
* The store layout is awkward with a lot of twists and turns.
* There were four check out clerks and five customers. One clerk was not taking
business and just kept punching in to the terminal. Two of us waiting while the
other three evidently were doing returns and filling out an endless online form
asking the customer continuous questions. Then they want to sell the L. L Bean
credit card and have to go through that routine.
The employees are smiling and friendly behind the check out lane, and there is a roped guideline so you don’t have to hear others business, but I still could. The employees on the floor seem harried and stressed, although I’m not sure why as they weren’t doing any hard sells, but mainly moving merchandise and arranging tables.