LL Bean Has Best Spring Sales since 2008

FREEPORT, Maine (AP) — L.L. Bean says it just finished its best spring and summer season in five years, and that the performance was strong enough to warrant the first mid-year employee gift since 2007.

The Maine-based retailer says sales from March through August were up 3 percent from the same period last year, helping to bolster the company's position going into the critical end-of-year sales period.

Spokeswoman Carolyn Beem says the company's board approved a $1 million bonus that will amount to $185 apiece for employees hired before February. The privately held company didn't disclose its spring sales figures.

L.L. Bean is known for sharing the wealth in good times with an annual bonus based on the company's performance. Last spring, the company's workers received a bonus of 7.5 percent of their annual wages.