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Lands' End, Inc., headquartered in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, is a retailer of
clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...
,
baggage Baggage, or luggage, consists of bags, cases, and containers which hold a traveler's personal articles while the traveler is in transit. A modern traveler can be expected to have packages containing clothing, toiletries, small possessions, tr ...
, and
furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...
. In fiscal 2023, 63.2% of its revenue was from online retail orders in the U.S., 7.7% of revenue was international orders, 18.3% of revenue was sales of logo apparel to businesses and schools, 7.6% of revenue was received from third-party sellers, and 3.2% of revenue was from company-operated stores. As of February 2, 2024, the company operated 26 stores. The company is named after
Land's End Land's End ( or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...
; after promotional materials were printed, the founder noticed the
typographical error A typographical error (often shortened to typo), also called a misprint, is a mistake (such as a spelling or transposition error) made in the typing of printed or electronic material. Historically, this referred to mistakes in manual typesettin ...
in the location of the apostrophe, but could not afford to reprint the material.


History

Lands' End began as a
mail-order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing an order by telephone call ...
yachting supply company in 1963 in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. It was founded by
Gary Comer Gary Campbell Comer (December 10, 1927 – October 4, 2006) was the founder of mail order clothing retailer Lands' End.Dennis Hevesi"Gary C. Comer, 78, Founder of Lands’ End, Dies,"''New York Times'', October 6, 2006. Early life Born on the S ...
, along with his partners,
1963 Pan American Games The 1963 Pan American Games, officially known as the IV Pan American Games () and commonly known as São Paulo 1963, were held from April 20 to May 5, 1963, in São Paulo, Brazil. Host city selection For the first time, two cities submitted b ...
gold medalist sailors Richard Stearns and Robert Halperin, and two of Stearns' employees. In 1978, it expanded into general clothing and home furnishings, and moved to Dodgeville, Wisconsin. In October 1986, it became a
public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...
via an
initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...
. In the late 1980s, Lands' End was the jersey supplier of the
United States national rugby union team The United States men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, represents the United States in men's international rugby union competitions. USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States, a ...
. In July 1995, the company launched its website, Landsend.com. In 2002,
Sears, Roebuck and Company Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...
acquired the company for $2 billion in cash. Sears offered products by Lands' End in many of its retail stores, until 2019. In November 2009, Lands' End launched Lands' End Canvas, which offered a more fashion-oriented selection of casual clothing for men and women. It was discontinued in 2013. The line was reintroduced in 2016 but cancelled in 2017 by the new CEO. In 2013, the company partnered with Borderfree to display international orders in local currency. The company began selling on
Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain that operated in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, as well as franchised locations across Europe and the Asia Pacific. The company was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and gr ...
and in 2014, in its first international partnership, in
House of Fraser House of Fraser (rebranding to Frasers) is a British department store chain with 23 locations across the United Kingdom and 2 in Ireland, part of Frasers Group. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891, it ...
. In April 2014, Sears completed the
corporate spin-off A corporate spin-off, also known as a spin-out, starburst or hive-off, is a type of corporate action where a company "splits off" a section as a separate business or creates a second incarnation, even if the first is still active. It is distinct ...
of the company, which once again became publicly traded. Jerome Griffith became CEO in March 2017, succeeding Federica Marchionni. In 2018, the company began selling on
Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...
. In 2018 and 2019, the company produced uniforms for employees of
Delta Airlines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its largest in terms of total passengers and number of depart ...
and
American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...
. In 2019, Lands' End closed its remaining store-within-a-store branches in Sears stores, after Sears Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In 2020, the company entered into a partnership with
Kohl's Kohl's Corporation (Kohl's is stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain store, chain. currently has 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Hawaii. The company was founded by Polish immigrant Maxwe ...
to sell the company's products in its stores. In 2021, the company partnered with
QVC QVC (short for "Quality Value Convenience") is an American free-to-air television network and a flagship shopping channel specializing in televised Shopping channel, home shopping, owned by QVC Group (formerly Qurate Retail Group). Founded in 19 ...
to sell its products on its website, expanded to video sales in April 2022.


Awards and recognition

In 1998, Lands' End was named among The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America by ''
Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fate * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (19 ...
'' magazine.


Controversies

In 2016, feminist activist
Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem ( ; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social movement, social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ...
was featured in the catalog of Lands' End. After an outcry from
anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...
customers, the company removed Steinem from its website. The company then faced further criticism, 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.


References


External links

* {{Authority control 1963 establishments in Illinois 1980s initial public offerings 2014 initial public offerings Clothing brands of the United States Companies based in Wisconsin Companies listed on the Nasdaq Iowa County, Wisconsin Mail-order retailers Online retailers of the United States Retail companies established in 1963