L.L.Bean'S First CEO Appointment Was Quite Unexpected.

Recently, the famous outdoor leisure brand of the United States and retail companies L.L.Bean announced that the former Stephen Smith, the first Chinese electricity supplier platform, will become the new chairman and CEO of the company, the first external CEO of the 103 year old family company.

Shawn Gorman, founder and chairman of L.L.Bean's board of directors, announced the news in a memorandum to all employees, saying that the L.L.Bean family and board members agreed to employ former China.

No. 1 store executive Stephen Smith takes over the outgoing Chris McCormick as chief executive of the company.

"We are very happy to choose Steve Smith as our new CEO."

This is the embodiment of the principle that we are responsible for the family and the board of directors, and I believe we have made the right choice.

He has a deep understanding of the needs of the market and consumers, and has rich experience in multi-channel retailing, which is in line with our L.L.Bean needs.

Shawn Gorman said that Leon Gorman, chairman of L.L.Bean's old board chairman, interviewed Smith personally and passed the appointment.

"Leon is one of the best" judges "I know," Gorman said. "After meeting Steve, Leon said," Steve is the best candidate. "He is a very honest person who rarely praises others so highly.

So we chose Steve at ease.

Steve Smith added

At the moment, the company is ready to launch a massive store.

Earlier, McCormick announced that the L.L.Bean store will grow 3 times by 2020, reaching at least 100.

L.L.Bean, founded in 1912, has gone through 103 years under the management of several generations of family members. Its annual sales volume has exceeded 1 billion 600 million US dollars, and the world has 5000 employees.

Smith will officially take over Chris McCormick in January 2016, which has been chief executive of L.L.Bean for 14 years.

As early as last May, McCormick announced his resignation.

He formally joined L.L.Bean in 1983. He has held many positions in more than 30 years. In 2001, he became the chief executive officer of L.L.Bean, the grandson of the founder of Leon. He became the first foreign surname leader in the history of this century company.

During the term of office, McCormick helped the family company pform from cataloging to multi-channel retailer based on online sales. Meanwhile, the number of physical stores is growing steadily.

After McCormick resigned, Gorman had said that he would not exclude the successors from outside, but he preferred to promote them from within the company, because the people inside were more familiar with the company culture and were more able to follow the "Bean family's way of doing things".

However, Smith's deep understanding of L.L.Bean culture and his multi-channel retail background made him the ideal CEO candidate for Bean family and board.

Smith has rich experience in international retail market development and management. He worked in overseas supermarket group Del Hayes and WAL-MART's overseas company, and then went to Shanghai. He was employed in the 1st retail store of China retail business, responsible for sales and marketing.

He also worked at Resort Sports Network, Hannaford chain store in Maine.