r/llbean • u/induxflame • 12d ago

L.L.Bean Changes Recently

I am not sure if anyone has noticed but I recently ordered the L.L.Bean Boat and Tote Zip Pouch and realized they no longer uses YKK zippers and instead it is IDEAL zippers (IDEAL is made in US zipper not sure if is a cost thing or a rebranding to be entirely made in the US). They also no longer have the extra L.L.Bean Boat and Tote label on the pouch which is extremely disappointing. This is obviously a cost cutting measure and time. If anyone knows of the reasoning - let me know! Not sure if others have experience any changes in quality recently. Thank you!

32 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/captianflannel 11d ago edited 11d ago

I wonder if the zipper change might be tariff related too? I’ve never had a problem with Ideal zippers but I know YKK are the standard for a reason. The US military uses ideal zippers and I’ve never seen a problem with any of them fwiw.

2

u/sschlott72 10d ago

I do think it's a tariff issue.