Retail Visual & Store Experience Internship

Are you ready to embark on an exciting summer internship journey with one of Maine’s most iconic outdoor brands? At L.L.Bean, we’re not just about selling gear; we’re about inspiring and enabling people to enjoy the great outdoors. Whether you’re hiking up a mountain of data, paddling through event planning, or navigating the trails of hiring top talent, you’ll find your place here as a summer intern.  Lace up your boots, grab your backpack, and get ready for an unforgettable adventure like no other with L.L.Bean’s Summer Internship Program. 

Retail Visual & Store Experience Internship 

Job Description Summary 

A summer internship at L.L.Bean is an introduction to our company that provides an opportunity for the right individual to contribute to moving the business forward and to gain exposure to key areas of the organization. Interns supporting the Retail Visual Merchandising team will assume some various project roles and responsibilities to our 60+ retail stores (and growing!) including our Flagship Freeport store, while working on current business opportunities cross-functionally that directly benefit L.L.Bean. Typical internship periods are 10 to 12 weeks in duration, beginning June 2, 2025 and ending August 8, 2025. 

Retail Visual & Store Experience Internship – Home Office Role, Freeport Maine HQ  

The Summer Retail Visual Merchandising Intern will work alongside the LLB visual team, supporting the Senior Manager of Store Experience & Visual Merchandising, the Visual Merchandising Manager, and the entire Retail Visual Merchandising team.  This role supports our retail stores across the country to ensure visual consistency, brand alignment, create brand standards and provide clear communications to the stores.  This team’s goal is to bring the Brand’s merchandise vision to life in stores through compelling product presentations that promote a positive customer experience and maximize company sales growth and profitability. They create and communicate the visual directive that conveys a holistic representation of the L.L.Bean brand through consistent product presentations and selling strategies across all store locations. This team works hard to plan, communicate and direct a strong visual merchandising strategy to Stores.  The Visual Merchandising team effectively sets the stage for an exceptional customer experience in our stores.     

The Summer Retail Visual & Store Experience Internship will include a designated project that will be a combination of the interns’ interests, field of study and future career goals, while fulfilling a need for solution in the retail visual organization.  Compelling presentation skills required, as project results will be presented and defended to Senior Leadership at the end of the summer.  

Responsibilities:  

• Assist with manipulation of design files using Adobe Illustrator and InDesign (experience in Adobe Suite not a prerequisite but preferred)  

• Learn and shadow all levels of the Visual Merchandising team  

• Assist in coordination and preparation for mannequin presentations, product presentations and visual display photography in the Retail Lab  

• Aid in sample acquisition for the Retail Lab  

• Hybrid work opportunity with a lean towards working in the Retail Lab a minimum of 2x/week  

• Support of process improvement and daily support of store issues.  

• Provide Retail Home Office administrative support such as calendar management, file management, meeting preparations, and communications  

• Visual & Store Experience content collection and delivery to support ongoing education initiative's, morning meetings, communication tools, leadership conferences and seasonal manuals.  

• Demonstrate leadership that promotes L.L.Bean’s core values, brand, culture and mission   

• Execute inspiring brand presentations through visual and marketing efforts   

• Foster a supportive work environment and lead a service and selling culture   

• Demonstrate problem solving and critical thinking skills in a fast-paced and dynamic retail environment through action planning and execution to meet service and sales goals   

• Deliver legendary world-class customer service   

• Follow store Standard Operating Procedures to create a seamless shopping experience   

• Lead and execute compliance with Loss Prevention policies and procedures   

• Assume additional responsibilities as assigned.   

Qualifications:    

• Must be currently enrolled in a 4-year college or university degree program with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0  

• An interest, passion or experience in visual merchandising... and desire/curiosity for pursuit of career in the visual merchandising world of the outdoor apparel and gear industry  

• Must have reliable transportation for the duration of the internship, as this is not a remote role and requires one to be in our Freeport Maine HQ 5 days/week  

• Must be able to find personal housing accommodations within a commutable distance to Freeport, ME (housing leads and referrals will be provided)   

• Previous experience in retail stores, and understanding of how a store operates   

• Work a variable schedule that may include nights or weekends  

• Prior retail or service experience required  

• Passion for the outdoors and L.L.Bean’s core activities   

• Have proven leadership skills, with the ability to develop and motivate others   

• Capability to build strong partnerships and to work collaboratively to achieve goals   

• Demonstrated problem solving and critical thinking skills   

• Ability to maintain a high level of enthusiasm, motivation and a positive attitude   

• Established time management and organization skills   

• Demonstrated interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills    

• Some previous customer service experience required (retail, restaurant, hospitality, etc.)   

• Strong business acumen with the ability to achieve sales and service goals   

• Ability to work a flexible schedule to support retail if needed    

• Self-starter with strong ability to multi-task  

• Attention to detail   

• Highly collaborative