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Lands' End

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For other uses, see Land's End (disambiguation).
Lands' End, Inc.
Company typePublic
Nasdaq: LE
IndustryRetail
FoundedChicago, Illinois
(1963; 61 years ago (1963))
FounderGary Comer
HeadquartersDodgeville, Wisconsin[1]
Number of locations
30 (2021)
Key people
Jerome Griffith (CEO)
ProductsClothing, luggage, home furnishings
RevenueIncrease US$1.452 billion (FY2019)[2]
Increase US$42.6 million (FY2019)[2]
Decrease US$11.59 million (FY2019)[2]
Total assetsDecrease US$1.111 billion (FY2019)[3]
Total equityIncrease US$322.7 million (FY2019)[3]
OwnerPublicly traded company[4][5]
Number of employees
5,000 (2019)[6]
ParentSears (2002–2005)
Sears Holdings
(2005–2014)
Websitewww.landsend.com

Lands' End is an American clothing and home decor retailer founded in 1963 and based in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, that specializes in casual clothing, luggage, and home furnishings. The majority of the company's business is conducted through mail order and Internet sales, but the company also has retail stores, primarily in the Upper Midwest, along with international shops in the UK, Germany, Japan, France and Austria. From 2002 to 2014, Lands' End was a subsidiary of Sears Holdings.[citation needed]

History

Lands' End began as a mail-order yachting supply company in 1963 in Chicago.[4] It was founded by Gary Comer,[7][8] along with his partners, 1963 Pan American Games gold medalist sailors Richard Stearns and Robert Halperin, and two of Stearns' employees.[9][10] As the business became successful, it expanded into general clothing and home furnishings, and moved to Dodgeville, Wisconsin in 1978.[8] The company is named from its sailboat heritage, after Land's End, but the misplaced apostrophe in the company name was a typographical error that Comer could not afford to change, as promotional materials had already been printed.[7]

Lands' End's catalog business expanded in the 1980s, riding a nationwide wave of mail-order success.[citation needed] The company expanded its computer systems and customer service operations. In 1986, it became a publicly traded company.[4] The 1990s saw continued growth, as the company began international expansion and became an early embracer of e-commerce, establishing a website and "live chat" customer service. In 1992, Lands' End was named among "The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America".[clarification needed][4][failed verification]

In the late 1980s, Lands' End was also the jersey supplier of the United States national rugby union team.[11]

In 2002, Sears acquired the company for $2 billion in cash.[12] In addition to operating mail order and online business and Lands' End Inlet stores (a reverse pun used for its outlet stores), Sears offered a Lands' End clothing line in a large number of its retail stores.[13] In 2012, the company formed an "online partnership" with the UK's Debenhams and House of Fraser department stores;[14] in 2016 it began selling on Amazon.[15]

In November 2009, Lands' End launched a new line called Lands' End Canvas, which offers a more fashion-oriented selection of casual clothing for men and women.[citation needed]

On December 6, 2013, Sears Holding Corp. announced that it would spin off Lands' End catalog business as a separate company by distributing stock to the retailer's stockholders.[16] Lands' End stock began trading on the NASDAQ on April 7, 2014.[17] Jerome Griffith became CEO in March 2017, succeeding Federica Marchionni.[15]

In 2016, feminist activist Gloria Steinem was featured in the catalog of Lands' End. After an outcry from anti-abortion customers, the company removed Steinem from their website, stating on their Facebook page:

It was never our intention to raise a divisive political or religious issue, so when some of our customers saw the recent promotion that way, we heard them. We sincerely apologize for any offense.

The company then faced further criticism online, this time both from customers who were still unhappy that Steinem had been featured in the first place, and customers who were unhappy that Steinem had been removed.[18]

In 2019, Lands' End announced the closure of its remaining store-within-a-store branches in Sears stores, after Sears Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[19][15] The last of these closed by the end of 2019.[20] As of the end of 2021, the company operates 30 retail stores.[21]

References

  1. ^ Reingold, Jennifer Why Lands' End Ousted Its Change Agent Fortune. October 7, 2016
  2. ^ a b c "Lands' End, Inc. (LE) Income Statement - Yahoo Finance".
  3. ^ a b "Lands' End, Inc. (LE) Balance Sheet - Yahoo Finance".
  4. ^ a b c d "Lands' End - About Us". www.landsend.com.
  5. ^ Frequently asked questions. Lands' End. "In 2014, Lands’ End spun off from Sears Holdings and became a publicly traded company"
  6. ^ "Lands' End, Inc. (LE) Company Profile & Facts - Yahoo Finance".
  7. ^ a b Suzanne Kapner, "Sears Weighs A Spinoff of Lands' End; Core Chains' Losses Grow,"The Wall Street Journal, October 30, 2013. Archived November 2, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ a b Dennis Hevesi, "Gary C. Comer, 78, Founder of Lands’ End, Dies," The New York Times, October 6, 2006.
  9. ^ "American National Business Hall of Fame". Anbhf.org. Archived from the original on November 2, 2013. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
  10. ^ Rick Kogan, "Gary Comer: 1927 - 2006," Chicago Tribune, October 5, 2006.
  11. ^ "Rowing Blazers Taps Lands' End for Colorful Capsule Collection". HYPEBEAST. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  12. ^ "Sears buys Lands' End", CNN, May 13, 2002
  13. ^ "Sears stores carrying Lands' End" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, Internetretailer.com, October 17, 2003
  14. ^ Corporate Overview, Corporate website, Undated. Retrieved: 10 October 2013
  15. ^ a b c Phil Wahba, "How Lands' End Emerged From the Shadow of Sears and Prospered Again", Fortune, December 7, 2018.
  16. ^ Hadley Malcolm, "Sears to spin off Lands' End business," USA Today, December 6, 2013.
  17. ^ Associated Press, "Lands' End Starts Trading as Public Company," ABC News, April 7, 2014.
  18. ^ "'Catalog Interview With Gloria Steinem Has Lands' End on Its Heels'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  19. ^ "Lands' End to take final steps away from Sears". Retail Dive. Retrieved 2019-07-27.
  20. ^ "Lands' End Stores FAQ | Lands' End". www.landsend.com. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
  21. ^ "Lands' End | Customer Service | Store Locator". www.landsend.com. Retrieved 2022-01-11.
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