Founded in 1912 by Leon Leonwood Bean, L.L. Bean was just named one of Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For," in addition to being No. 5 on Forbes Best Employers 2015 list. The company employs 9,000 workers around the world.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Outdoor apparel retailer L.L. Bean said its first Ohio store is headed to Easton Town Center in Columbus this July -- months ahead of its Legacy Village store opening in Lyndhurst in November 2015.
The Freeport, Maine-based retailer confirmed the change in plans after The Plain Dealer asked about job openings posted online for a Columbus store alongside store manager openings in Lyndhurst.
"We are opening a temporary, 4,700-square-foot pop-up store in Columbus this July at the Easton Town Center," a company spokesman confirmed via email Friday afternoon. The store will have a short-term lease inside the mall and employ about 20 people. "This is an opportunity that recently presented itself, and it will also be a good way for us to test the waters in the Columbus area."
Meanwhile, L.L. Bean has posted the first four of what is expected to be 100 jobs for its Legacy Village store in Lyndhurst.
"We're setting up camp in Cleveland!" the company said on its website. "L.L. Bean is excited to announce our new store opening in the Legacy Village Lifestyle Center in the Fall of 2015, and we are looking for talented, passionate, Store Leaders to set up camp with us."
Current openings, all of which say they are "responsible for driving business results, developing talent and ensuring delivery of the legendary L.L. Bean customer experience":
1. Department Manager of Customer Service.
2. Department Manager of Operations.
4. Retail Assistant Store Manager of Brand.
L.L. Bean, a 103-year-old, family-owned retailer known for its rubber-soled Bean Boots, plaid shirts, free shipping, and 100-percent satisfaction guarantee, is opening a 16,000-square-foot store in the space now occupied by Talbots, Talbots Petites, Talbots Woman, and Talbots Accessories & Shoes.
Talbots is moving across the street to an 8,600-square-foot space where Coldwater Creek and Christopher & Banks used to be.
Founded in 1912 by Leon Leonwood Bean, L.L. Bean was just named one of Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For," in addition to being No. 5 on Forbes Best Employers 2015 list.
"Maine's legendary outdoor apparel retailer has an unbelievably low turnover among full-time employees at 3 percent, while part-time turnover is also low at 11 percent," Fortune said. "Employees like their discount of 33 to 40 percent on L.L. Bean items. And the 103-year-old company also sponsors a club that plans excursions like sea kayaking, camping and snowshoeing."
L.L. Bean said the Lyndhurst store will carry "an assortment of active and casual apparel and footwear, as well as outdoor lifestyle gear including hiking, fishing, fly-fishing, kayaking, winter gear and camping products."
Not every item in the catalog will be available at the store. "We sell over 140,000 different items, so the store will not be able to sell each and every one of these items, but we will assuredly be putting forth a broad-cross section of all of our various product groups with a representative assortment of active and casual apparel and footwear, as well as outdoor lifestyle gear including hiking, fly-fishing, kayaking and winter gear and camping products," a spokesman said via email.
"We source globally from a variety of manufacturers and we source more domestically than most retailers. We sell several hundred products that are made in the U.S. Most importantly, we employ nearly 500 people at our two manufacturing facilities in our home state of Maine where we still hand-make the heritage product that started our company--the Bean Boot, as well as our Boat and Tote bags and more.
This will be the Maine-based retailer's 23rd retail store outside of Maine, and is part of its push to expand its store count nationwide.
As in its other locations, the Lyndhurst store will house one of L.L. Bean's Outdoor Discovery Schools, for demonstrations, clinics and hands-on activities such as snowshoeing, kayaking, stand-up paddle-boarding, archery and fly-casting.
Store staff jobs will probably be posted sometime in mid-summer, a company spokesman said. Job seekers can apply online, and will be contacted if L.L. Bean is considering them for an opening.