Lands' End names new COO/CFO in wake of Q4 sales slump

Lands’ End is making some significant executive moves in the wake of reporting a preliminary same-store sales decline of 8% to 10% for the fourth quarter.



Lands' End announced that it has named James (Jim) Gooch as its new executive VP, COO and CFO. Gooch will report directly to Marchionni, and will be responsible for overseeing operational and financial functions for the company. He will succeed Michael Rosera, who will be leaving the company.



“I am pleased to welcome Jim to the Lands’ End executive team. I am confident that his operational expertise in the areas of information technology, logistics, supply chain, and retail operations, in addition to his financial disciplines, will prove to be highly valuable to our organization," said Federica Marchionni, Lands' End's president and CEO. "I look forward to leveraging his knowledge and breadth of experience as we execute our strategic growth plans for Lands’ End. We want to thank Mike for his numerous contributions to Lands’ End over the years and wish him the best in his future endeavors.”



Gooch most recently served as the co-CEO and chief administrative officer of Demoulas Supermarkets until December 2014. Prior to that, Gooch was an independent consultant, advising a number of apparel and retail companies on operational and financial management. Gooch previously served as the president and CEO, and prior to that CFO, of RadioShack Corporation from 2006 to 2012.



The company announced preliminary financial results on Thursday for the fourth quarter ended Jan. 29. Lands' End said it expects net revenue is expected to be between $464 million and $474 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, a decrease of 6% to 8% compared to $505 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. Net revenue in the Direct segment is expected to be between $401 million and $410 million ,compared to $432 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. The company said the decrease is primarily attributable to a decline in the company’s U.S. businesses resulting from a highly promotional environment and unfavorable weather conditions.



"While our financial results were negatively impacted by the unseasonably warm weather, weak economic fundamentals and the continuation of a highly promotional retail environment, we continued to make progress on a number of key initiatives across product, branding, technology, distribution and talent to achieve our vision for Lands' End as a meaningful global lifestyle brand," said Marchionni. "These strategic initiatives, which we have implemented over the last several quarters, are intended to enhance our appeal to our core customer, as well as inject design and aspiration that will expand the reach of our brand to a broader consumer base over time. Overall, we believe that the steps that we are taking are positioning us to achieve meaningful long term growth."



Net revenue in the Retail segment is expected to be between $63 million and $64 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, compared to $73 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014. The expected decrease is primarily the result of a decline in same store sales, and a decrease in the number of Lands’ End Shops at Sears.



The company operated 227 Lands’ End Shops at Sears, 14 global Lands’ End Inlet stores and five international shop-in-shops on Jan. 28 compared to 236 Lands’ End Shops at Sears, 14 global Lands’ End Inlets and five international shop-in-shops on Jan. 30, 2015.