LL Bean Inc Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

LL Bean Inc - Case Study Example However, by the time of his death, the company had grown immensely with annual sales averaging about $4.75 million and the number of employees standing at 200 (Schleifer, 1993, p. 2). The grandson expanded and modernized the business while sticking to his grandfather’s rule, â€Å"Sell good merchandise at a reasonable profit, treat your customers like humans beings, and they’ll always come back for more† and by 1991, the company was a leading catalogue manufacturer and retailer in outdoor sporting field (Schleifer, 1993, p. 2). Currently, the company has diversified into selling outdoor recreation equipment and clothing. L.L Bean opted not to expand its retail operations and instead stuck with the only retail store they had opened at Freeport. Leon Gorman explained this decision saying the catalog business and retail business were different and both required different types of management styles (Schleifer, 1993, p. 2). However, a Consumer Report survey ranked L.L.Bean as the most customer satisfying ‘mail-order’ company in the U.S. among its major competitors such as Eddie Bauer, Talbot’s, Land’s End and Orvis. In addition, the company’s product line was classified as hierarchical and whose highest level of aggregation is occupied by Merchandise Groups such as men’s and women’s apparel, footwear and accessories, camping equipment among many others (Schleifer, 1993, p. 2). Below each Group is Demand centers such as sweaters, pants, skirts, jackets among many others. The hierarchy continued with Item sequences followed by individual items distinguished b y color, which formed the basis of forecasting and purchases to replenish stock (Schleifer, 1993, p. 3). The problem of inventory management is a bone of contention, in this case. The problem of making forecasts for each individual item stocked by the company has been the main challenge facing the company because it’s hard to match demand and supply for items