A better Bean

A better Bean
L.L. Bean moves its bricks-and-mortar store presence forward with an environmentally friendly prototype

By Sree Roy, Contributor
May 01, 2008

Richard Mandelkorn

Well-established as a catalog and Internet merchant, outdoor equipment and accessories company L.L. Bean Inc. recently spied an opportunity to expand its bricks-and-mortar store presence. "About seven years ago, it became clear that the physical retail part needed to expand to provide more opportunities for customers in more markets," says Ken Kacere, senior vice president, retail stores, of the 95-year-old brand. Whereas store sales (mainly from the company's flagship store near its headquarters in Freeport, Maine) made up only about 10 percent of the brand's business a few years ago, these sales are projected to make up between 20 percent to 30 percent of the company's business by the year 2012. To reach that goal, the retailer has developed a new, eco-friendly prototype to cater to its core outdoorsy clientele.

"When we were developing the store concept, it was a natural thing that our stores would be environmentally friendly, because one of our core values is based around a stakeholder concept," Kacere explains. The company considers all of the stakeholders—customers, employees, vendors or the overall community—in every decision it makes, Kacere says, including its impact on the environment. Sean Salter, L.L. Bean's director of visual design, adds: "A goal for the new design was to make it feel authentic to the Bean brand and heritage. Fortunately, a lot of things that help portray this in our store actually tie back to the environment, like the authentic feel of reclaimed wood in the flooring."

The three prototype stores that opened in 2007—in Mansfield, Mass.; South Windsor, Conn.; and Albany, N.Y.—are all expected to earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification through a U.S. Green Building Council LEED for Retail Interiors pilot program. The design team is hoping for a silver rating for the 25,000-sq.-ft. stores. "There were some challenges, like the store in Albany, N.Y., had less daylighting opportunities because of its first-floor location, but we incorporated enough flexibility into the design so there were certain trade-offs we could make to ensure each store reached the same level of certification," says Rachel Zsembery, project manager at Boston-based design firm Bergmeyer Associates Inc.

A lot of research was put into creating the prototype design. Six members of the design team actually worked in an existing L.L. Bean store for a day to learn about the store experience from the inside. Plus, shop-alongs and exit interviews were conducted to understand what the customers were looking for, what they responded to and what they didn't like, before the prototype was created.

Visual enhancements begin with the store's exterior, as a large porch surrounds the façade. This porch provides direct entrances to certain departments within the store, such as the paddling and biking areas, and also can serve as a gathering place during the summer. Expansive amounts of glass provide the store with ample daylighting. Exterior materials were chosen for their ability to change and adapt with the environment. Natural cedar-finish shingles on the roof will transform over time from a pewter color to a weathered gray; the zinc-clad copper also on the roof will dull to a deeper gray as it ages. "We really wanted to complement some qualities that are seen in Bean products," says Joseph P. Nevin Jr., senior principal at Bergmeyer. "When you buy Bean boots, they look great when you first buy them, but they become better over time as they acquire a patina and wear and become part of you. In the same way, we wanted the buildings to look great when they first open, but we also want them to acquire a patina and change over time as they become part of the local environment."

Inside the front doors, a large information desk orients customers to what the store has to offer, and provides information about the green design. An "Outdoor Discovery Center" serves as a hub in the center of the store, connecting L.L. Bean customers to the environment through organized outdoor activities, like kayaking trips. It also fits in with the retailer's mantra of "learn, try, buy and enjoy," Kacere explains.

Around the hub of the Outdoor Discovery Center, the floorplan is separated into smaller specialty sections based on the four core product offerings of biking, hiking, boating and flyfishing. "We designed it as more of a specialty store rather than a department store," Nevin explains. "We wanted to create a more intimate experience."

As opposed to a typical racetrack layout, the path around the store was created to be more like a winding path in the woods. Through platforms and ramps, it even changes in elevation in certain departments to mimic the changes in topography that are found in nature. The path itself is made of reclaimed wood. "One of the green things we did in the stores was use a lot of reclaimed wood," says Matt Hyatt, lead designer at Bergmeyer. "It separates L.L. Bean in terms of the character of those materials."

The flooring of the Albany, N.Y., store has an especially interesting story. "One of the things that struck our customers the most about the reclaimed wood in the Albany store is that it's from a barn that was being torn down," Kacere says. "We hung a picture of the barn with a plaque explaining the source of the wood, and people have really been responding to that." Recycled-content carpet is used throughout the sales floor, and recycled rubber flooring is present in the paddling and biking areas. Some new wood is also used in the store, but more than 50 percent of it is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified, which means it comes from forests certified to be well-managed and sustainable.

Fixturing in the store also is constructed from reclaimed wood. "It was pretty innovative where some of the wood came from; it includes sources like wooden pickle barrels," Nevin says. All of the fixtures were manufactured within 500 miles of each store, which reduces environmental impacts from transporting them to the store locations.

In addition to taking advantage of daylighting inside the store, the design team incorporated other energy-efficient lighting mechanisms. Daylight-responsive controls are installed in lighting near windows, while motion sensors that turn lights off when not needed are installed for areas that aren't regularly occupied. Plus, the entire store is tied together in a lighting control system that shuts off lights depending on an astronomic light clock, which is based on the sun pattern for that specific day of the year. Energy Star lighting fixtures are also featured throughout the space.

A separate energy-use management system lets L.L. Bean's Freeport headquarters remotely track how much energy the stores' mechanical systems are using, allowing them to know if there is a problem with the efficiency of a unit. This system also monitors temperature in the stores. Together, the lighting control and energy-use management systems reduce each store's energy by about 40 percent over comparable facilities.

When asked how green design has helped L.L. Bean, Kacere is quick to point out that while it may not have helped the bottom line (at least in the short run), it's something L.L. Bean and its customers are very happy about. "Green aligns with our core values," Kacere says. "By sticking by our core values and doing the right thing, our customers ultimately feel better about their relationship with the brand."

WEB EXTRA! One-on-one with the designer: Ken Kacere, senior vice president, retail stores, L.L. Bean Inc., Freeport, Maine

Q: How important is it for retailers to begin accepting green design practices in their retail environments?
A: It is very important, but in the context of doing it because it is the right thing to do for the environment. For us at L.L.Bean, protecting our natural resources has always been part of our corporate values and stewardship, so when it came to building stores, integrating green design was a natural course of action.

Q: What challenges will retailers face in adapting eco-friendly practices in the coming five to 10 years?
A: Three things come first to mind. How to and what to implement, as well as at what level to implement. Certainly cost will be a consideration, but the biggest challenges may be lack of knowledge of green building practices.

Q: Where do you see the retail design industry five years from now?
A: I think there will still be a big focus on green building practices, but I hope it will be more prevalent and standard in the retail industry.

Q: How involved are you in the day-to-day carry through of the design process in L.L. Bean's new stores?
A: I am very involved. We have a great team at L.L.Bean led by Sean Salter, director of store design. He and I begin every day to discuss our new and future stores and the design elements of each. He works closely with Bergmeyer Associates of Boston, the firm with whom we partnered on our prototype design. Our team has developed a well
planned kit of parts that work together--with many variations based on site selection and the spaces we are looking to go into that require some shifting and adapting. We created a store that could be adapted locally without losing any integrity of the design.

Q: How much does customer requests/suggestions come into play when creating a new store environment for L.L. Bean?
A: We value our customer's perspective and point of view, so not surprisingly, quite a bit. We have a great relationship with our customers and they are very vocal. We learn a lot from them. To kick off our prototype design work, we initiated a great deal of research through shop-alongs, exit interviews and other feedback from customers. We collected information on store design, layout and shopping experience expectations to take into consideration while developing the prototype.

Q: Because of your profession, do you have trouble differentiating yourself as common customer or critical retail executive when in a store?
A: Not really. I try to look at stores and shopping experiences through both lenses most of the time.

Q: How has working at L.L. Bean inspired you?
A: The values that the company's founder, L.L. Bean, was raised to believe in were simple and deeply engrained. Nature is something to be revered. Family ties are a priority. Being neighborly is a matter of course. And "do unto others" is not just a saying but a way of life. When L.L. launched his company, he believed so strongly in the Golden Rule that he made it the foundation of his business. It is very motivating to work at a company that truly embraces green practices for the right reason--that it is good for the environment and that it is the right thing to do.

Q: What three words would you use to describe the L.L. Bean design philosophy?
A: Honest. Character. Heritage.