L.L. Bean CEO: Government should aid ‘middle-market retail’

March 31, 2020

L.L. Bean CEO Stephen Smith said that, while essential retailers are dealing with unprecedented levels of demand for the products they sell, other non-essential or “middle-market” retailers with more than 500 employees are being forced by the coronavirus outbreak to close stores and furlough hundreds of thousands of workers. “All of those apparel retailers, every label of a piece of clothing that someone is wearing right now, all of them are struggling mightily with full rent, full payroll and, if they’re store-based, close to zero sales,” said Mr. Smith.

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