Deb Aronson

Purchasing Power

First appeared in in September 2005 under Profiles

When Mindy Conover Meads ‘74 ACES looks at a shirt, she’s probably not thinking about how it will look on her but how it will look on you.

That’s because Meads, recent president and CEO of the clothing chain Lands’ End, has spent her entire career in the retail clothing industry. Starting out as a 16-year old store clerk, at her latest post she ran a company earning $1.6 billion a year in revenue.

Meads enjoyed her first job so much — at Best Records in her hometown of Lake Forest — that “I remember thinking, ‘This could be something I could do,’” she said. “I didn’t even think I knew what retailing was at that point.”

Since then, the 53-year-old Meads, who parted ways with Lands’ End just last month, parlayed her own youthful passion, along with an aptitude for math and leadership, into becoming a force in the retail clothing industry.

Meads’ education in that industry began as she studied textiles and retailing at the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois. Since then, she has never stopped learning about retail clothing and all it encompasses.

The retail clothing business encompasses myriad aspects — knowing your customers; figuring out what fabrics and styles will appeal to them; finding the best place to manufacture the clothing; analyzing the financial implications of selling that clothing; and deciding how many of which items to sell in what stores. It’s a big, complex field, full of unknowns, especially when it comes to consumer behavior. Meads describes the field as “a mixture of art and science.”

“Mindy is a very, very talented merchant,” said Dave Dyer, president of Tommy Hilfiger and former CEO of Lands’ End. “And I mean that in terms of an old-time merchant who can both develop a product that will sell and knows how to run a business.”

Not many people have both of these talents. Typically someone has either a head for the number crunching or that magical sense for what will be popular in any given season. Meads has both.

Despite these talents, she attributes her fulfilling career to an additional factor — collaboration. Since her days at the Chi Omega sorority life at the U of I, where members studied together and played together, Meads has reveled in being surrounded by other smart, energetic people. “I really liked collaborating with friends; I still do,” she said.
Despite finding a career path that fueled her passion, Meads didn’t exactly start off with a bang. After graduation, she simply headed west, hoping to land a job at Denver Dry Goods.

“I remember one professor, Mrs. [Lorraine] Trebilcock, who was a very good counsel,” Meads recalled. “When I asked her, ‘Should I just pick up and go?’ knowing I wanted to get into retailing but didn’t have a job, she said ‘Great; go do it.’”

Meads’ gamble paid off. She was hired at Denver Dry Goods and became a buyer within a year. But a buyer’s job isn’t simply going on a huge shopping spree; complex — and sometimes risky — financial calculations are involved, as well. A buyer goes to a vendor, views the products, decides what to buy, what assortment of things to buy for each store, what sells, what doesn’t and how much to buy.

After four years in Denver, Meads decided she wanted to work in a larger setting, so she packed her bags and headed to New York City, where she made Macy’s her home for 12 years. At Macy’s she moved quickly up the ladder, starting as a buyer and quickly becoming store manager, then vice president over several divisions, including kids, juniors and large sizes. Meads ultimately ended up as senior vice president over all available divisions.

Meads’ ascent up the career ladder didn’t follow a master plan, just a search for the next challenge. That proved to be learning how to develop lines rather than buy them. “I got what I call my crash course in product development by moving to The Limited,” she said.

“The Limited was good training in understanding how you move product through, how you develop it and how you focus the look so it looks cohesive,” Meads said. The creative aspect of choosing fabrics, colors, styles and sources to produce the items appealed to her because “as you move up the line in a department store, you lose the creativity part of the job,” she said.

Meads was at The Limited only a year before being lured by Dyer to Lands’ End. In 1991 the company was getting ready to introduce a women’s line and wanted Meads to help.

Dyer, who was CEO of Lands’ End at the time, liked what he saw in Meads. She had worked at Macy’s, a chain known for teaching its merchandisers how to run a business, and was at The Limited, which is touted for its reputation of outstanding product development. That was the talent combination Dyer was looking for at Lands’ End, a company whose motto is “Guaranteed. Period” regarding its highest quality, classic clothing.

At first, Meads wasn’t ready to make another leap.

“I didn’t know anything about catalog,” she said. “I was not interested in leaving The Limited, but then I visited Lands’ End, and I thought, ‘Wow, this is really something special.’ It’s a special company, which still has a huge potential for growth; it is very casual, very team-oriented, very collaborative.”

So Meads moved from Atlanta to Dodgeville, Wis., headquarters of Lands’ End. In 2003, she became CEO, and with Lands’ End merger with Sears, she became that company’s executive vice president. She left the company in august over philosophical differences as to the direction the business was heading.

Ever the collaborator, Meads considers her biggest success to be building the Lands’ End management team, comprising the heads of design, marketing, merchandising, human resources, plus the chief financial officer and the chief operating officer.

“We have just great people at Lands’ End,” Meads said, “great people on the phones, in the warehouse. We have brought in lots of talent from New York and the West Coast, people that want a nice balance in their lives. They have families, but they also want a dynamic career.”

Meads has both. The business executive gets help on the home front from her husband, Larry.

“We both made the decision for him to stay home, and it works out great,” said Meads, who met her husband when they both worked at Macy’s. These days, Larry is home with the couple’s 12-year-old son, Griffin, and helps out at his school.

Larry’s role enabled Meads to leave home at 4:30 a.m. most days to take advantage of the Lands’ End gym. After swimming or taking a Pilates class, Meads is at her desk by 7:30. She leaves for home around 6:30. It’s a full day, she admits, but an invigorating one.

“In addition to being incredibly talented, Mindy is … just a bundle of energy,” Dyer said.

Despite her grueling schedule, Meads also represents the Wisconsin retail sector on the Federal Reserve Board in Chicago and finds time to volunteer in two national organizations — C200 and Girls’ Inc. — which help women enter and succeed in the business world.

C200 is an international, elite group of female CEOs ranging in age from 30-80 who help one another and encourage other women to enter the business field. Just like in her sorority days, Meads becomes energized and inspired by smart and experienced women who provide mutual support, guidance and friendship.

In fact, Meads recently hosted a sorority-style sleepover for her C200 colleagues. Approximately 30 women came for a pajama party that included pedicures, manicures and exercise classes. While most C200 gatherings are more educational than social, even the sleepover proved enlightening. Women from all different fields, of all different ages and with all different experiences offered eye-opening ideas about leadership, business and life, she said.

Meads passes that knowledge on as she mentors women charting their own careers. She meets with Lands’ End interns, recruits at colleges and, as a member of C200, helps distribute college scholarships to encourage girls to go into business.

Meads is also very active in Girls’ Inc., a national organization that works to empower girls to become business leaders. She was one of five outstanding women honored by that organization earlier this year.

“I never really pictured myself as a role model,” Meads said. “But I think I probably have become one. I just do my job and enjoy what I do.”

And while there is no way of knowing what challenge Meads will take on next, you can be sure there will be one. Guaranteed. Period.