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unsteadied t1_jabo4xb wrote

Reply to comment by Unfair-Thought5814 in Hand me down name tag trail on this child’s jacket by Mofomania

Yep, that’s the real reason they ditched the lifetime guarantee. Just so happens they did it right when they started using cheaper materials and outsourcing manufacturing to China, totally a coincidence.

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ninjasays t1_jac3xq1 wrote

My parents gave me an LL Bean snowboard jacket for Christmas 20+ years ago. Not a thing wrong with it.

3 years ago, my parents gave me an LL Bean fleece pullover. The stitching on the cuff let go within the first month.

As a Mainer, Beans used to be a source of pride. Now they're just another corporate money machine.

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CapitanChicken t1_jacggkk wrote

It's why I'm so thrilled when I see older Bean stuff at Goodwill. I'm still kicking myself for leaving an old pair of their boots behind.

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Unfair-Thought5814 t1_jacekev wrote

Yeah I have a Bean henley that my mom gave me for Christmas in the mid-90s, and it's still looks really good. I stopped at the fancy HQ store in Freeport last summer and found nothing that seemed worth buying. Sad.

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Ultrabigasstaco t1_jacjdaa wrote

You should check out Origin. Made in Maine with as much sourcing from the US as they can. They probably don’t have as good a selection but the stuff is quality.

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CrouchingGinger t1_jacr7cj wrote

Yeah, it’s sad. My grandfather was a ME dairy farmer and wore Bean’s exclusively. I feel like old Leon is rolling in his grave. That being said you can get stuff super cheap at the Goodwill warehouse if you don‘t mind digging. I got backpacks and polar fleece for next to nothing there.

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Double-0-N00b t1_jae6r0f wrote

I work for LL Bean and I will not die on a bill defending it, but it’s not outsourced to china and there’s still a lot made here in America.

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frothy_pissington t1_jacn0v6 wrote

And they did a lot of PR at the time about how they were being FORCED to drop the return policy because of customers abusing it.

Then one of the Bean family went all in for Trump.

We raised our kids in Lands End and Bean, but haven’t bought either brand in over a decade.

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solvitNOW t1_jacpmdt wrote

Lands End is even worse than Bean as far as how crappy it’s gotten…Bean is still decent quality but not as good as it once was. But Lands End stuff is unwearable now.

We still have a couple of their kids storm jackets that have passed through 3-4 kids and look brand new from around 2012 but everything from there feels super cheap and fits weird now, when fabric and fit used to be their specialty.

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