We used to send dozens of their fruit baskets to relatives and friends every Christmas.

Wasserstein Haunts Harry & David in Doomed Buyout - Bloomberg

I am afraid LLBean is next. We used to buy a lot of stuff from LLBean but the only thing we buy from them now are backpacks for the the kids. I actually wrote them a letter saying why we stopped buying clothes from them. Basically I said two things..

1. Although the quality of their stuff is still good, the styles have become pretty staid.
2. The quality and appeal of their competitors has increased dramatically. Effectively closing the gap.

As I write this, I cannot help but think of Mercedes Benz. The older cars were awesome. They were awesome because they were engineered well and the competition was not. Now the competition has closed the gap considerably making consumers think twice about buying a Benz.

Sad.

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Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

I'd have to agree, Ben. I've got 20+ year old LL Bean stuff that is still perfectly presentable. The majority is American made. A lot of the new stuff is not. Being a pretty boring dresser, the staid aspect doesn't bother me too much. But it's certainly not helping to draw any new customers in who are looking for hip and fresh.

They still do honor their guarantees and I've never had an issue they wouldn't resolve. I see that they now offer free shipping on most everything. Might be a last ditch effort?

The problem with making stuff that lasts is that people don't need to replace them. While planned/designed obsolescence isn't necessarily good for a business' reputation, it does help with the sales numbers as long as the value (as opposed to cheap) line can be tip-toed.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

I never minded the "staid" aspect of theirs or other maker's clothes. I wear most of my clothes until they disintegrate, and what I buy to replace them looks pretty much the same. Any companies selling products typically purchased with discretionary money are having a tough time of it these days. Most people are not counting as much of their income as discretionary anymore, if indeed they still have the same income they did 3-4 years ago.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

clothes are considered non-durable goods (last less than 3 years) but in your case (and mine), they are definitely durable goods.

I am still wearing the same Lands End jacket I wore in college. That was 20 years ago.

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Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo

Ha ha, I just threw away a pair of shoes I bought in high school. I had them resoled five or six times, but finally the tops fell apart. I'm still wearing some of my dad's clothes. Dad died 23 years ago. Dad bought really good quality clothes. That was one thing he really spent money on. They still look good, too.

Clothing retailers clearly don't make as much off of men as they do from women.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

I'd bum over the loss of LLBean - better quality stuff, free replacement....while its never all its cracked up to be we down own a fair amount of camping gear (too expensive to buy all at once) that is holding up well. I look forward to visiting their store (near Pittsburg PA) later this year.

-John

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2009 Kia Sedona
2009 Honda Odyssey EX-L
12006 Jetta Pumpe Duse
(insert Mercedes here)

Husband, Father, sometimes friend =)

I'd be pretty disappointed if I bought an article of clothing and didn't get at least three years out of it. I'm currently wearing a t-shirt I bought nine years ago. I just recently downgraded one to the rag pile that was old enough to buy a pack of smokes.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

I was doing some research on World War II lately and ran across a advertisement in a 1944 publication for keeping inflation down. The program had the catch phrase 'Use it up, wear it out. Make it do or do without.'

The bottom line was to make stuff last since the US was fighting a war that the War Department was planning on fighting until 1951 and the US was going to need all the assets it could lay its' hands on.

It reminded me of the attitude of a lot of folks that drive Mercedes. We don't mind paying top dollar for the quality, but the quality had better be there and we expect to get our monies worth out of it.

But one thing that comes with knowing quality when you see it is that you notice when it starts to slip.