Linda Bean, L.L. Bean Heiress and Big-Time Trump Donor, Dies at 82
Linda Bean, L.L. Bean Heiress and Big-Time Trump Donor, Dies at 82
Bean’s unwavering support for Donald Trump caused some groups to boycott L.L. Bean back in 2017.
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Never buy L.L. Bean again, gotcha.
To be honest, the people who actually run LL Bean have written open letters distancing them and the company from Linda and her views.
They are (were) stuck with her earning dividends, but she didn't have actual support from or much influence on the company.
She mostly just took dividends, hocked her lobster rolls and created a PR problem for the company.
I suspect she hawked lobster rolls vs. taking them to a pawn shop.
Prawn shop?
The money the company made, whether the company liked it or not, benefited causes that oppressed or sought oppression of one's fellow man. I don't care how "nice" and "good" and "distant" the Nazi fundraiser is from your core business. Your core business still in practice supports those causes financially. It's difference without distinction. Stop buying Nazi stormtrooper coats because they are "Just so fluffy!"
The thing is they had no way to stop paying shareholder dividends to a her.
Currently, there's no law on the books that let's a company not sell shares or not pay dividends to a Nazi. I wish there was, but there isn't.
They did the best they could, which was saying "this person and their views are not held, endorsed or supported by the company and its staff and other directors."
This is very different from, eg Hobby Lobby or MyPillow, where the company endorsed the views of and is actively run by Nazis.
I'm not saying don't pay the Nazi from the company perspective. I'm saying as a consumer I shouldn't support this company because the dividends go to a Nazi.
Fair, but I suppose the concern is that doing so punishes every non-Nazi owner, manager or worker.
If I started a company, went public, and a fascist dipshit bought 10% of that company shares on the open market, do I deserve to be punished despite my putting out a press release that says I don't agree with said fascist dipshit, but I can't do anything about them because of contract law?
But they just said this Nazi lady had nothing to do with them other than collecting share dividends. I don’t understand your comment based on that?
They were amazing once, but that was sort of a long time ago now.
They had super high quality with an unbelievably good warranty. Basically, most of the store was buy it for life. They dropped quality and then the warranty followed. Now it's mostly just a familiar name.
Makes sense they're trumptards
List of chairmen
- Leon Gorman (2001–2013)
- Shawn Gorman (since May 2013)
List of CEOs
- Leon L. Bean (1912–1967)
- Leon Gorman (1967–2001)
- Christopher McCormick (2001–2015); first non-family CEO
- Stephen Smith (since November 2015)
This largely lines up with my experience with their quality over time.
I remember learning about LL Bean from Seinfeld and asking why people like it. Later when I wasn't living paycheck to paycheck and started buying quality goods, I learned that their famous warranty was gone. Which sucks because I'm all about BIFL.
This is why I switched to Patagonia, quality stuff, great customer service, great warranty.
And way better ownership evidently
Yeah from what I’ve heard it’s owned by someone who genuinely wants to make the world less awful. Whether or not that’s true idk, but I’ll always prioritize a company that acknowledges and claims to attempt to minimize environmental impact over one owned by bigots
It was owned by someone like that, he gave the company away and it's now owned by a bunch of non-profits oriented around environmentalism.
They also tell their workers to go outside when the surfing is nice according to a podcast I heard once.
Yep. Wish I could have gotten in 20 years ago but was broke back then.
LL bean used to be the shit in the early 00s, now it's basically overpriced Walmart garbage
That was the lesson in 2017, idk who the heirs are now or what their politics are
I hadn't heard about this one. New Balance was the big one for me since they also heavily donated to Trump.
We need an updated list of those companies. I don’t readily see a current one.
Agreed! Hard to keep that curated and not commented on by every angry person out there.
They have mobile apps too and you can see who contributes to which political party.
This is awesome thank you!!
I actually hadn't heard about New Balance!
this is the first I’m hearing about LL bean and New balance, after having just bought a LL bean vest, and new balances, feeling like a fool now.
May as well get a MAGA hat at this point /s
Just don’t buy Goya food for dinn- oh you did, didn’t you.
You used to be able to scam LL Bean by buying beat up old shit and taking advantage of their lifetime warranty, but they've limited it now
Jeez what does a shit go for these days
I'm so sorry!
Did they? Damn, they're the only shoes I've tried that fit my flat feet.
Try out some urban boots or even just a casual "dress" shoe. In my experience, having the hard, lifted heel makes all the difference in the world to your back and other things. It made my knees better, my feet don't hurt, and I don't deal with daily back pain anymore. I have tennis shoes/sneakers/etc at home but the are only for exercise. For walking around, going to work, etc., it's always a pair of boots.
I have flat feet and Hokas are pretty good.
Now I just wait for someone to come along and tell me they support Cthulhu or something for president.
To be honest, Cthulhu might be an improvement. Eldritch horrors generally aren't beholden to special interest groups.
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FUCK. They're the only ones I've found that make a 6E width shoe that actually fits me (flat, super wide feet with massive instep. my feet are basically bricks.)
Boots! There's a boot that will fit you. Boots changed my life.
Yeah, I do need to make the switch. I had boots for work at something (nonslip and it's all that would fit) but food service destroyed them. Just very hesitant to drop that kinda cash (tennis shoes alone run ne $200+). Red wing still any good? Heard mixed things about them these days, and specific product lines being good/bad
I like my red wings but I can’t speak on the company’s politics.
In general find a smaller company and ask how resoleable they are. A great boot can be repaired for life instead of replaced. They can be uncomfortable to break in but once you do they’re amazing.
My boss turned me on to these:
They are great. I wear them everywhere and am on my second pair now. I'd say you get 2 - 5 years of heavy, daily use but they probably aren't for work in a woodshop or whatnot.
I wish online shopping was an option for me, I can't justify the money on things I can't try on in-person sadly. Looks like they only go up to 3E width anyway.
They do look nice though!
NB seems to be Trump's target market, lol. Or at least I tend to associate them with old people.
Vans? Now, that would be a shocker.
She’s dead now though