L. L. Bean—based in Freeport, Maine—is a supplier of outdoor apparel, furnishings, and equipment. Since its inception in 1912, it has become renowned for its products and services and for the rustic, genteel lifestyle that it represents. With a largely unchanging mix of products such as khaki pants, the famous "Bean boot," and camping equipment, L. L. Bean has virtually defined the outdoors-oriented retailing industry. In the 1980s, when the "preppy" (see entry under 1980s—Fashion in volume 5) look was in vogue, L. L. Bean was practically revered. In Lisa Birnbach's best-selling book The Official Preppy Handbook, she wrote of the preppy rite of passage of going to the Bean store in Freeport at midnight. The L. L. Bean catalog has been a legend for decades. Until the 1990s, there was only one store in Freeport, and all orders were through the catalog...