We’ve all gotten their catalogs in the mail. The folks that make the wonderful oxford cloth shirts I wear everyday. The folks that make great briefcases and polo shirts. The folks that seemed to have maintained their quality, even after they were assimilated into Sears Borgbuck and Company. Yes, I’m talking about Lands End.
The Los Angeles Times is reporting this morning on the death of Gary C. Comer (78). Don’t recognize the name? Mr. Comer was an indifferent student growing up on Chicago’s South Side, who learned to sail. In fact, he became a world-class sailor, winning a number of competitions, including the North American Championship in 1959 and a bronze medal in the Pan American Games the same year. He toiled at odd jobs before landing a position at the advertising firm of Young & Rubicam in 1950, only to quit in 1960 to bum around Europe. Returning to Chicago, he started a business in 1963, selling sailboat equipment, hardware, duffel bags, rain suits and a few items of clothing. Perhaps you heard of it? It’s called Lands’ End. The name was chosen, according to Comer, because “It had a romantic ring to it, and conjured visions of a point to depart from on a perilous journey”… and as for the misplaced apostrophe, it was the result of a typographical error in the first catalog, distributed in 1975.
By 1977, the company was selling only clothing and had moved its headquarters to Dodgeville, WI. It went public in 1986, and became one of the largest and most innovative mail-order businesses in the world. It was one of the first catalog retailers to set up toll-free telephone lines for customers to shop seven days a week, 24 hours a day. In May 2002, the company was assimilated into Sears Borgbuck for $1.9 billion. At that time, Comer was chairman of the board and the majority shareholder.
I thank Mr. Comer for his company, which is the source of much of my wardrobe.
