U.S. clothing and sporting equipment company L.L. Bean is launching its first store in Canada in a bid to boost flat sales and expand its international footprint.
The Maine-based retailer known for its catalogue of leather-and-rubber boots will open a 13,000-square-foot store in Ontario’s Oakville Place on Aug. 23 in an effort to generate revenue growth. L.L. Bean has struggled with stagnant sales in the past few years as the 107-year-old company adapts to a changing retail landscape.
The private company said that it pulled in US$1.6-billion in sales in 2018, a 1-per-cent increase from the previous year. With Canada making up 2 per cent of its total annual revenue, L.L. Bean is aiming to double its sales in the country over the next three to four years through its recently launched Canadian website and new retail store, according to spokeswoman Carolyn Beem.
“We’ve been hearing from customers for a long time that they would love to see a store in Canada," Ms. Beem said. “We have considered moving to Canada with retail for a long time.”
With its long-standing relationship with Canadian consumers through its catalogue, L.L. Bean could encroach on other outdoor apparel and equipment brands such as Mountain Equipment Co-op, Sorel Canada, Sporting Life and Canadian Tire Corp.-owned brands such as Helly Hansen. Canadian consumers who may have been wary of ordering online or from the catalogue will be able to go into the store to try out the products, and that could make a big difference in the size of the retailer’s customer base in Canada, said Farla Efros, president of HRC Retail Advisory.
“I think that they could definitely shake it up a bit," Ms. Efros said. "They’ve been around a long time and now people can physically see and touch [their products]. I do think that they can steal some market share.”
The U.S. retailer plans to stock the store with Canada’s most-ordered L.L. Bean products, such as the tan-and-brown boots, parkas, fleece sweaters and sporting gear. It partnered with Jaytex Group in Toronto, which also works with U.K.-based Ben Sherman and New York-based United States Polo Association, to manage its distribution and retail operations and provide insight into the Canadian retail market, Ms. Beem said.
The move comes as a series of foreign retailers make their way into the Canadian market. Seattle-based Nordstrom’s off-price division Nordstrom Rack opened its first store in Vaughan, Ont., last year and quickly expanded with two stores in downtown Toronto. In January, Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo announced the opening dates for two new Canadian stores, its first new retail locations in the country since it launched its first site in Toronto in 2016.
The Canadian market has become a test bed for retail expansion, allowing companies to pilot their products in new regions through slow, small-scale expansions, according to Bruce Winder of retail specialist Bruce Edward Winder Consulting.
“Canada offers the ability to hone an international skill set with much less risk. … Toronto and Vancouver have become international cities and our diversity in both cities is like a microcosm of the globe.”
In launching a bricks-and-mortar store in the suburbs, L.L. Bean has chosen a different real estate path than most foreign retailers moving into the Canadian market. It’s store in Oakville Place is about 35 kilometres away from Canada’s largest city and some of the country’s most-visited fashion retail centres. But the location has other benefits for L.L. Bean, according to Ms. Beem.
“We typically look at geographic regions where we have customer affinity," she said. “We look at places where there is an outdoor recreation hub where people like to get outside.”
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Stefanie Marotta