• psvrh@lemmy.ca
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      8 months ago

      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.

      • NegativeInf@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        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!”

        • psvrh@lemmy.ca
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          8 months ago

          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.

          • NegativeInf@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            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.

            • psvrh@lemmy.ca
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              8 months ago

              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?

        • dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de
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          8 months ago

          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?

    • BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      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

      • NounsAndWords@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        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.

      • Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        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.

        • Empyreus@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          This is why I switched to Patagonia, quality stuff, great customer service, great warranty.

            • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              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

              • Dark Arc@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                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.

    • jeffw@lemmy.worldOPM
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      8 months ago

      That was the lesson in 2017, idk who the heirs are now or what their politics are

      • stoly@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        I hadn’t heard about this one. New Balance was the big one for me since they also heavily donated to Trump.

        • Zerlyna@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          We need an updated list of those companies. I don’t readily see a current one.

        • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          8 months ago

          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.)

            • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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              8 months ago

              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

              • stoly@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                My boss turned me on to these:

                https://thursdayboots.com

                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.

                • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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                  8 months ago

                  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!

              • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                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.

        • catloaf@lemm.ee
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          8 months ago

          Did they? Damn, they’re the only shoes I’ve tried that fit my flat feet.

          • stoly@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            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.

        • Wahots@pawb.social
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          8 months ago

          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.