After years of speculation the two companies were courting, Hoffman Estates, IL-based Sears, Roebuck and Co. yesterday announced it was buying cataloguer Lands’ End, Dodgeville, WI, for $1.9 billion.
No. 4 U.S. retailer Sears will fill up to 20 percent of selling space in its 870 stores with Lands’ End merchandise–the chain will position the items as its top private-label line in a bid to shore up ailing apparel sales.
The deal marks the chain’s return to the world of catalog retailing: Sears began as a catalog company in 1893 proffering goods out of its infamous “Big Book” (catalog operations were shuttered in 1993).
Lands’ End ceo David Dyer will remain at the helm of his company, which will become a Sears subsidiary. The deal is expected to close in June.
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