Public service announcement: The signature L.L. Bean Boots are literally backordered until next year. Clicking through a few of the sizes, widths and styles, it seems the earliest you'll be able to receive them if you order today is January 4th, though most are backed up until February and some as far down the line as April, if you can believe it. If you're looking for a classic snow boot staple for the winter, L.L. Bean is apparently not happening this time around. According to Businessweek, the demand for the signature Duck boot has QUADRUPLED in the past three years, ballooning from roughly 100,000 pairs sold every year up to roughly 450,000 this year. L.L. Bean saw the demand increase coming as far back as two years, but still couldn't cope with it quick enough to keep up with orders. To make up for the shortage, the company hired an extra 100 boot makers, bought a new injection machine to make the chain link signature soles and now have a factory running basically 24 hours a day, churning out boots at an unprecedented pace. I guess all those menswear lists from 2010 telling us to stick with a utilitarian, American-made staple for an affordable price were just a few years ahead of their time.
