MADISON, Wis., March 31 (UPI) -- Gary Comer, the billionaire founder of the preppy Lands' End brand now part of Sears Holding Co., may be interested in buying his baby back.
Direct Marketing News, a catalog trade publication, said Comer was mentioned as a possible buyer if new Sears Chairman Edward Lampert sells off the Wisconsin-based premium clothing and home goods firm.
Comer, 77, founded Lands' End in Dodgeville, Wis., in 1963. He sold it to Sears for $1.9 billion in 2002. The brand has languished under Sears ownership and reportedly is being sought by Tommy Hilfiger, the French catalog firm Redcats and the Texas Pacific Group, the Wisconsin State Journal said.
Lands' End is cutting 375 seasonal positions and will have a workforce of about 6,400 at the end of 2005.
Comer, listed by Forbes Magazine as the fifth-richest resident of Wisconsin, and his wife recently gave $27 million to the University of Chicago to build the Comer Children's Hospital.
