Lands' End is a clothing retailer based in
DodgevilleDodgeville is the most populous city and county seat of Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,698 at the 2010 census, making it the 9th largest city within the Madison metropolitan area. The Greater Dodgeville Area however had a population of 6,529...
,
WisconsinWisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, that specializes in casual clothing, luggage, and home furnishings. The majority of Lands' End's business is conducted through
mail orderMail order is a term which describes the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote method such as through a telephone call or web site. Then, the products are delivered to the customer...
and
InternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
sales, but the company also runs more than a dozen retail operations, primarily in the
Upper MidwestThe Upper Midwest is a region in the northern portion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. It is largely a sub-region of the midwest. Although there are no uniformly agreed-upon boundaries, the region is most commonly used to refer to the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and...
, along with international shops in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Lands' End is famous for its
"Guaranteed. Period." policy, which allows for returns or exchanges at any time and for any reason.
History
Lands' End began as a sailboat equipment company in 1963 in Chicago, Illinois. It was started by fellow
1963 Pan American GamesThe 4th Pan American Games were held from April 20 to May 5, 1963 in São Paulo, Brazil.- Medal count :To sort this table by nation, total medal count, or any other column, click on the icon next to the column title.Note...
gold medalA gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
ist sailors
Robert HalperinRobert Sherman "Bob" Halperin , nicknamed "Buck", was an American competitive Star class sailor, and Olympic bronze medalist and Pan American Games gold medalist....
and
Richard StearnsRichard Stearns is an American competitive sailor and Olympic and Pan American Games medalist.In 1963, he won a gold medal along with Robert Halperin at the Pan American Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil, sailing Ninotchka....
, Halperin's close friend
Gary ComerGary Comer was the founder of mail order clothing retailer Lands' End.-Early life:Born on the South Side of Chicago in the Grand Crossing neighborhood, Comer graduated from the Paul Revere Elementary School in 1942 and Hyde Park High School in 1946. He became a copywriter at Young & Rubicam in...
, and two of Stearns' employees.
The business became so successful that it expanded into general clothing and home furnishings and eventually moved to Wisconsin. The company is named from its sailboat heritage, after
Land's EndLand's End is a headland and small settlement in west Cornwall, England, within the United Kingdom. It is located on the Penwith peninsula approximately eight miles west-southwest of Penzance....
, but the misplaced apostrophe in the company name was a typographical error that the founder (
Gary ComerGary Comer was the founder of mail order clothing retailer Lands' End.-Early life:Born on the South Side of Chicago in the Grand Crossing neighborhood, Comer graduated from the Paul Revere Elementary School in 1942 and Hyde Park High School in 1946. He became a copywriter at Young & Rubicam in...
) could not afford to change, as promotional materials had already been printed.
In 2002,
SearsSears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...
bought the company for
US$The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
2 billion in cash. In addition to operating mail order and online business and Lands' End Inlet stores, Sears now offers a Lands' End clothing line in a large selection of its retail stores.
In November 2009, Lands' End launched a new line called "Lands' End Canvas." The new Canvas line is a more fashion-oriented selection of casual clothing for men and women.