Another Post About Lands' End
The Lands End we know and love is back! The mens' catalog we received today is loaded with the styles, colors and fabrics - lots of plaids - we've come to expect from the Wisconins-based merchant.
Better yet, gone is the type of cover photo we've seen in the last few years: European-style preppies cavorting at country manors. The photo below was taken in the Chicago River.
What's more, I actually ordered four items from the recent woman's catalog; they'll arrive tomorrow. Quick service!
Nine months ago when news broke that Lands End had ousted Federica Marchionni, I successfully fought the urge to opine on the matter.
After all, the somewhat-hapless CEO was only doing what her board told her to do.
And clearly, her board hadn't the foggiest notion of how to revitalize the sagging Lands' End brand.
(And after having written two other posts on Lands End, I didn't want to give the impression this is a Lands' End blog.)
Under Marchionni's stewardship, Lands' End went from selling sporty, reliable classics (albeit somewhat tarnished by the Sears' association) to slim, nipped-waist clothes for rich-looking people who appeared more like Europe's upper crust than down-to-earth Midwestern sailors.
Then there was the Gloria Steinem thing that ticked everyone off, or so it seemed.
I felt sorry for Marchionni. I've been a CEO, albeit of a non-profit. I know how it's impossible to be successful when your board has no idea what it's doing, or what direction it should go. You might please one contingent but annoy another one. They need to be aligned before you, the leader, can succeed.
This is common. In fact, I'm involved with an organization now that while well-intentioned, hasn't performed the visioning and strategic planning that could take it from well-received efforts to phenomenally successful efforts.
Back to Federica. Slimming down the Lands' End silhouette confused and frustrated long-time shoppers. It was not a financial win for the struggling company.
So in September of last year, the company announced Marchionni's sudden departure. Two interim leaders were brought in, and this winter, Lands End announced the hiring of Jerome Griffith, the Tuma Holding CEO who has also worked for other stellar brands.
I was encouraged by the news that Griffith, unlike Marchionni, had moved to Wisconsin. He and his wife bought a condo in one of my favorite Madison, Wis., neighborhoods, the Hillsdale/Hill Farms area. Let's hope he opens a Lands' End store nearby soon.
I was further buoyed by the news that Lands End would be mounting a return to its roots and phasing out the Canvas line. The hope that it would do so was behind my responses to a customer survey I received via e-mail about 5-6 months ago.
As a woman of a certain age, I like loose-fitting clothing that hides my flaws. I prefer sporty classics to chic styles. I'm a gardener, walker, traveler and sometimes gym rat. I live in a small midwestern town. I seldom travel to large cities, at least in the US, and I have little need for LBDs (although I always have one or two in my closet, and currently, they are both from Lands End).
(But I'm pretty sure the Canvas line predates Marchionni. I seem to recall reading about it in 2013, at least 18 months before Marchionni began running the company, mostly from Manhattan. Not that it matters. But let's be fair.)
In the intervening years, while Lands' End was trying to find itself, I discovered another Wisconsin company, Duluth Trading, that is even more basic and more no-nonsense than the Lands' End I grew to love more than 20 years ago. Duluth Trading offers no LBDs, but plenty of clothing for gardening, walking and tooling about town, whether on a bike, on foot, or in my SUV. The fabric is good and the colors are rich.
I've now got two options for no-nonsense clothing from Wisconsin retailers.
Thank you, Lands' End, for listening.
Better yet, gone is the type of cover photo we've seen in the last few years: European-style preppies cavorting at country manors. The photo below was taken in the Chicago River.
Nine months ago when news broke that Lands End had ousted Federica Marchionni, I successfully fought the urge to opine on the matter.
After all, the somewhat-hapless CEO was only doing what her board told her to do.
And clearly, her board hadn't the foggiest notion of how to revitalize the sagging Lands' End brand.
(And after having written two other posts on Lands End, I didn't want to give the impression this is a Lands' End blog.)
Under Marchionni's stewardship, Lands' End went from selling sporty, reliable classics (albeit somewhat tarnished by the Sears' association) to slim, nipped-waist clothes for rich-looking people who appeared more like Europe's upper crust than down-to-earth Midwestern sailors.
Then there was the Gloria Steinem thing that ticked everyone off, or so it seemed.
I felt sorry for Marchionni. I've been a CEO, albeit of a non-profit. I know how it's impossible to be successful when your board has no idea what it's doing, or what direction it should go. You might please one contingent but annoy another one. They need to be aligned before you, the leader, can succeed.
This is common. In fact, I'm involved with an organization now that while well-intentioned, hasn't performed the visioning and strategic planning that could take it from well-received efforts to phenomenally successful efforts.
Back to Federica. Slimming down the Lands' End silhouette confused and frustrated long-time shoppers. It was not a financial win for the struggling company.
So in September of last year, the company announced Marchionni's sudden departure. Two interim leaders were brought in, and this winter, Lands End announced the hiring of Jerome Griffith, the Tuma Holding CEO who has also worked for other stellar brands.
I was encouraged by the news that Griffith, unlike Marchionni, had moved to Wisconsin. He and his wife bought a condo in one of my favorite Madison, Wis., neighborhoods, the Hillsdale/Hill Farms area. Let's hope he opens a Lands' End store nearby soon.
I was further buoyed by the news that Lands End would be mounting a return to its roots and phasing out the Canvas line. The hope that it would do so was behind my responses to a customer survey I received via e-mail about 5-6 months ago.
As a woman of a certain age, I like loose-fitting clothing that hides my flaws. I prefer sporty classics to chic styles. I'm a gardener, walker, traveler and sometimes gym rat. I live in a small midwestern town. I seldom travel to large cities, at least in the US, and I have little need for LBDs (although I always have one or two in my closet, and currently, they are both from Lands End).
(But I'm pretty sure the Canvas line predates Marchionni. I seem to recall reading about it in 2013, at least 18 months before Marchionni began running the company, mostly from Manhattan. Not that it matters. But let's be fair.)
In the intervening years, while Lands' End was trying to find itself, I discovered another Wisconsin company, Duluth Trading, that is even more basic and more no-nonsense than the Lands' End I grew to love more than 20 years ago. Duluth Trading offers no LBDs, but plenty of clothing for gardening, walking and tooling about town, whether on a bike, on foot, or in my SUV. The fabric is good and the colors are rich.
I've now got two options for no-nonsense clothing from Wisconsin retailers.
Thank you, Lands' End, for listening.
Comments
Post a Comment