These catalogs are mailed to customers through out the world, and products are exported to more than 150 countries. LE also has operations in Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom. Catalogs are written in the local language and denominated in local currencies. The company also has web sites in Italy, France, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany. LE's Internet business enables it to attract new customers and improve service to existing ones.
Internet sales are in the black and carry especially attractive profit margins.
It is management's intent to partially use catalog advertising as a means to migrate customers to the web. About two-thirds of the revenue gain was due to the shifting in the timing of a major clearance catalog into the first fiscal quarter and the addition of a kids catalog. Excluding these two items, sales on a comparable basis rose about 3 percent. Lands' End May catalog one week earlier than last year. In recent years management has taken a series of corrective steps to develop new product lines, broaden its channels of distribution and further enhance its recognized reputation for customer service.