Santa–and consumers–were good to general merchandise giant Lands’ End (NYSE: LE) during the holidays. Total revenue for the nine weeks ended Dec. 28 was $462.6 million, up 8% from $427.1 million for holiday 2000. Admittedly, holiday 2000 was only eight weeks, but even on a comparable eight-week basis, revenue increased 5%.
Dodgeville, WI-based Lands’ End says the additional week in the holiday period represented $13 million in revenue and had no material effect on net income. Net income for the nine-week period was $43.6 million, up 29%, from $33.9 million earned in the eight-week holiday period last year.
Breaking it down by segments, the core business showed strong growth, with an 18% increase to $276 million is sales from $255 million last year. The specialty segment, which includes the Kids, Home, and Corporate Sales titles, totaled $111 million, up from $105 million. The home division was up 15%, and the children’s division rose 5%, but corporate sales were flat. International sales increased 18%, to $40 million from $34 million, led by the German and United Kingdom businesses. Web sales increased 35%, to $92 million from $68 million.