L.L. Bean CEO with roots in Connecticut to speak at Dolan School of Business | Press Releases

Chris McCormick, named President and CEO of L.L. Bean last May, will be speaking to students in the Charles F. Dolan School of Business at Fairfield University on Monday, April 8 at 2 p.m. Mr. McCormick grew up in Redding, Conn., where he attended Joel Barlow High School before entering Fairfield University. He is a 1978 graduate of Fairfield U.

Mr. McCormick was the marketing manager with Garden Way Inc. when he left to join L.L. Bean in 1983 as assistant advertising manager. He earned a succession of promotions, including to vice president of advertising and direct marketing in 1991 and chief marketing officer in 2000. In succeeding Leon Gorman as President and CEO, he becomes the first non-L.L. Bean family member to run the privately held, family-owned company with annual sales of more than $1 billion.

Soon after taking on the top position, Mr. McCormick said, "I have the easiest and toughest of jobs. I have been given custodianship of one of the world's best brands, in one of the world's best locations, at a highly principled organization. Understanding the value of these assets is easy. In the current economic environment, the hard part will be figuring out how to leverage these values, especially when it comes to attracting and developing new customers to grow the business."

L.L. Bean, which has 4,700 year-round employees and attracts 3 million visitors each year to its Freeport, Maine stores, has branched out from its home base, opening its first international store in Tokyo, Japan in 1992 and adding two other retail stores in McLean, Va., in 2000 and Columbia, Md., just last year. During the peak holiday season the company has had as many as 137,300 calls in one day and shipped 131,000 packages in one day.

The L.L. Bean Flagship Store remains on the site of L.L.'s original store, built circa 1917, and is open seven days a week, 24 hours a day, year-round.

If you are interested in covering this event, please call Nancy Habetz, Director of Media Relations, (203) 254-4000, ext. 2647.