Edward Lampert has been trying to get Sears Holdings' fiscal house in order and that has meant store closings, business spinoffs and other cost-cutting steps in recent months. Another move being explored by Mr. Lampert, according to the New York Post, is the sale of Lands' End.
According to an unnamed source who spoke to the Post, Mr. Lampert is looking to find a buyer for Lands' End that will license the brand back to Sears.
"The idea is that Lands' End would become something like Tommy Hilfiger," the source told the Post.
Many believed that Sears and Lands' End were a bad fit when the $1.9 billion acquisition was reported back in May 2002.
Dechert Hampe senior vice president and RetailWire BrainTrust member Ben Ball said at the time, "I shall be very sad to witness the death of another of my favorite brands, Lands' End, for this is the highest probability outcome of this acquisition. Lands' End is a destination brand in the truest sense. Consumers go there to experience the uniqueness of Lands' End. They wear the clothes to experience that feeling that says, 'I'm a little unique too' (sort of like that teenage need to 'all be different together'). That feeling does not live at Sears, and I don't think it can."
The question now becomes whether Lands' End has enough left to go it alone after 10 years under the Sears Holdings umbrella.
