Leon Leonwood Bean
Leon Leonwood Bean was an American outdoorsman who founded L.L.Bean in Freeport, Maine, in 1912, selling his Maine Hunting Shoe by mail with a money-back guarantee.
What they did and why it matters
Bean showed that a generous return promise can build a lasting mail-order brand, but only if the business absorbs the cost of honoring it. Of his first 100 pairs of boots, 90 were returned when the tops separated, and he refunded every customer, fixed the design, and kept selling. L.L.Bean grew into a major catalog and later online retailer, and its guarantee became central to the brand. Brands setting return windows today face the same balance between customer trust and the cost of returns.
Related people
Sources
- L.L.Bean (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org
- L.L. Bean, Inc. History (FundingUniverse) fundinguniverse.com