PORTLAND, Maine — L.L. Bean’s 2015 sales were on par with one year earlier, a change of pace that its new leader blamed in part on unexpected spring and winter weather.
The company announced revenue stayed basically flat, at $1.6 billion for 2015, in a year when the company opened several new retail stores and added about 600 people to its payroll throughout the country.
L.L. Bean’s 5,900 employees will receive 3 percent bonuses for the year’s performance after a vote by the company’s board of directors Friday, according to a company statement. That’s a slight dip from the 5 percent bonuses offered in last year.
Though sales were flat, President and CEO Steve Smith wrote in a memo to employees that the company ended the year in a better competitive position.
“Thanks to a combination of prudent forecasting and cost management, we were able to minimize the impact of soft sales on our overall profitability — something many of our competitors could not achieve,” wrote Smith, who took the helm with Chris McCormick’s retirement in January.
Smith wrote the year was challenging for many retailers, especially for outdoor gear and clothing.
A colder-than-expected spring and a warmer-than-expected winter cut into the company’s seasonal sales, Smith wrote.
For 2016, the company said it plans to make its largest investments to transform its business, which has pursued a strategy of “omni-channel” retail, where it offers multiple ways for customers to shop.
The company announced a plan last year to open 100 new retail stores by 2020 and this year closed its Bangor call center as more customers are making purchases online rather than from the 104-year-old company’s catalog.
In the year ahead, Smith wrote, the company also plans to focus on its assortment of products and expand digital outreach to younger customers that “will broaden our brand appeal to a whole new generation of L.L.Bean customers.”