4 ms·

I used to buy all my clothes from Land's End - easy, convenient, and "good enough" quality. After the Sears acquisition Land's End went from occasionally "iffy"

by MrTonyD 11y ago

I used to buy all my clothes from Land's End - easy, convenient, and "good enough" quality. After the Sears acquisition Land's End went from occasionally "iffy" to rarely satisfactory. Everything became the cheapest, thinnest, and most poorly fitting. At the same time, Sears went from having the wrong products to having poor quality products (like the Land's End they started carrying.) The "dumb idea" vs. "poorly executed" is easy for me to decide -- I'd say both.

ghaff 11y ago
I generally agree. At best, my personal impression is that Lands' End isn't as good as it used to be. (Note that Lands'End isn't actually part of Sears any longer although there are still Lands' End stores within Sears stores.) Having said that, Lands' End's drop in quality came during the same period that so much manufacturing was moving to Asia. I suspect that whatever corners Lands' End started cutting were the same corners that most of the other brands it competes with were cutting as well. And this may well have happened with or without the Sears acquisition.
- MrTonyD 11y ago
  I read the book by the Patagonia founder, Yvon Chouinard, where he described how they had to send people to their manufacturers to be involved with quality, and how even then they would get bad batches and be forced to dump the clothes at a big loss and switch manufacturers. So it can be done - but perhaps that isn't what would be suggest by Ayn Rand. It isn't selfish enough.
  - ghaff 11y ago
    I have no particular reason to believe that Ayn Rand would champion cutting corners in product quality to save cost--especially if doing so wasn't a good long-term business strategy. But, to your broader point, especially if you're going to use low cost overseas manufacturing extensively keeping up quality implies a lot of hands-on monitoring and working with the manufacturers closely.
  - bch 11y ago
    If that's from "Let My People Go Surfing"[0], it's a light-weight (easy reading) book with what seem to be some pretty profound simple business observations and accounts of how Patagonia made decisions. I certainly enjoyed the book, but I think I don't have a deep enough business acumen to say whether or not the book is realistic for more than just Patagonia. [0] http://www.patagonia.com/ca/product/let-my-people-go-surfing-paperback-book?p=BK501-0 http://www.patagonia.com/ca/product/let-my-people-go-surfing... Edit: linked
    - manyxcxi 11y ago
      But if it worked for Patagonia, that operates in a pretty old industry, shouldn't there be at least a number of take aways that would apply to many or most industries? I've not read the book yet, so it's not a rhetorical question. Living in the Pacific Northwest Patagonia and their company story and ethos are known to just about everyone who's ventured into the outdoors.
      - ghaff 11y ago
        I'm not sure how relevant lesson from Patagonia are to a more mass market retailer. I like my Patagonia gear. I also bought most of it at outlets where it's merely expensive. It's certainly a high-end retailer. Making similar tradeoffs at a Sears or, as was recently the case, JC Penney's don't necessarily work.
  - grahamburger 11y ago
    Wait, a company decided on their own to build a better product? Without government regulation? And then became wildly successful? I don't think Ayn Rand would have a problem with that.
  - superbaconman 11y ago
    In the Ayn Rand books I've read, the characters (at least the protagonists) are obsessed with doing things the best way possible; Their motivations seem to revolve around a love for building and creation, not monetary gain. Chouinard could probably be a Rand character.
randycupertino 11y ago
That's entirely why I stopped buying Banana Republic and J. Crew. Their quality just plummeted 5-7 years ago. Their cashmere became so thin and pilled even within the first wear or two. It was ridiculous.
- okigan 11y ago
  So what do you buy instead ?
  - randycupertino 11y ago
    This is going to sound crazy like I'm an old man (I'm not, I'm 32!), but I've been loving the quality of both Tommy Bahama and LL Bean. They actually have some hip stuff, not just printed hawaiian shirts and duck boots. Tommy Bahama jeans specifically hold up super well, and I'm a weightlifter so they are cut to handle my meaty legs. They seem to be made very well. The fabrics are very thick, sturdy and you can tell the quality of the threads. I've been finding screaming deals on ebay for clothes, so have been "NEW without tags" Tommy Bahama stuff. Even the gently used stuff is such good quality that you can barely tell it's been worn at all. So for things like cashmere sweaters it's great value. For example I got a $250 mock sweater for $40 and it's awesome. I get more compliments on that thing than anything else I wear to the office. Kind of like this one but in more of a purple bordeaux color: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NWT-TOMMY-BAHAMA-Half-1-2-Zip-Sweater-Red-Cashmere-Sz-L-325-/141905432033?hash=item210a390de1:g:1KwAAOxyVaBSr4G7 http://www.ebay.com/itm/NWT-TOMMY-BAHAMA-Half-1-2-Zip-Sweate... Anyway, imo the quality of both LL Bean stuff and Tommy Bahama blow J Crew etc all out of the water. They're like how Lands End used to be, before Sears ruined them.

by MrTonyD 11y ago

ghaff 11y ago

I generally agree. At best, my personal impression is that Lands' End isn't as good as it used to be. (Note that Lands'End isn't actually part of Sears any longer although there are still Lands' End stores within Sears stores.) Having said that, Lands' End's drop in quality came during the same period that so much manufacturing was moving to Asia. I suspect that whatever corners Lands' End started cutting were the same corners that most of the other brands it competes with were cutting as well. And this may well have happened with or without the Sears acquisition.

MrTonyD 11y ago
I read the book by the Patagonia founder, Yvon Chouinard, where he described how they had to send people to their manufacturers to be involved with quality, and how even then they would get bad batches and be forced to dump the clothes at a big loss and switch manufacturers. So it can be done - but perhaps that isn't what would be suggest by Ayn Rand. It isn't selfish enough.
- ghaff 11y ago
  I have no particular reason to believe that Ayn Rand would champion cutting corners in product quality to save cost--especially if doing so wasn't a good long-term business strategy. But, to your broader point, especially if you're going to use low cost overseas manufacturing extensively keeping up quality implies a lot of hands-on monitoring and working with the manufacturers closely.
- bch 11y ago
  If that's from "Let My People Go Surfing"[0], it's a light-weight (easy reading) book with what seem to be some pretty profound simple business observations and accounts of how Patagonia made decisions. I certainly enjoyed the book, but I think I don't have a deep enough business acumen to say whether or not the book is realistic for more than just Patagonia. [0] http://www.patagonia.com/ca/product/let-my-people-go-surfing-paperback-book?p=BK501-0 http://www.patagonia.com/ca/product/let-my-people-go-surfing... Edit: linked
  - manyxcxi 11y ago
    But if it worked for Patagonia, that operates in a pretty old industry, shouldn't there be at least a number of take aways that would apply to many or most industries? I've not read the book yet, so it's not a rhetorical question. Living in the Pacific Northwest Patagonia and their company story and ethos are known to just about everyone who's ventured into the outdoors.
    - ghaff 11y ago
      I'm not sure how relevant lesson from Patagonia are to a more mass market retailer. I like my Patagonia gear. I also bought most of it at outlets where it's merely expensive. It's certainly a high-end retailer. Making similar tradeoffs at a Sears or, as was recently the case, JC Penney's don't necessarily work.
- grahamburger 11y ago
  Wait, a company decided on their own to build a better product? Without government regulation? And then became wildly successful? I don't think Ayn Rand would have a problem with that.
- superbaconman 11y ago
  In the Ayn Rand books I've read, the characters (at least the protagonists) are obsessed with doing things the best way possible; Their motivations seem to revolve around a love for building and creation, not monetary gain. Chouinard could probably be a Rand character.

randycupertino 11y ago

That's entirely why I stopped buying Banana Republic and J. Crew. Their quality just plummeted 5-7 years ago. Their cashmere became so thin and pilled even within the first wear or two. It was ridiculous.

okigan 11y ago
So what do you buy instead ?
- randycupertino 11y ago
  This is going to sound crazy like I'm an old man (I'm not, I'm 32!), but I've been loving the quality of both Tommy Bahama and LL Bean. They actually have some hip stuff, not just printed hawaiian shirts and duck boots. Tommy Bahama jeans specifically hold up super well, and I'm a weightlifter so they are cut to handle my meaty legs. They seem to be made very well. The fabrics are very thick, sturdy and you can tell the quality of the threads. I've been finding screaming deals on ebay for clothes, so have been "NEW without tags" Tommy Bahama stuff. Even the gently used stuff is such good quality that you can barely tell it's been worn at all. So for things like cashmere sweaters it's great value. For example I got a $250 mock sweater for $40 and it's awesome. I get more compliments on that thing than anything else I wear to the office. Kind of like this one but in more of a purple bordeaux color: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NWT-TOMMY-BAHAMA-Half-1-2-Zip-Sweater-Red-Cashmere-Sz-L-325-/141905432033?hash=item210a390de1:g:1KwAAOxyVaBSr4G7 http://www.ebay.com/itm/NWT-TOMMY-BAHAMA-Half-1-2-Zip-Sweate... Anyway, imo the quality of both LL Bean stuff and Tommy Bahama blow J Crew etc all out of the water. They're like how Lands End used to be, before Sears ruined them.