Lands' End Goes Back to Its Chicago Roots for a Pop-Up That's Everything but the Tree

Lands' End returned to Chicago, the city where it was founded in 1963, for a three-day Holiday Tree Farm pop-up running November 6 through 8. The concept borrows its name from archival ad copy that once promised the retailer offered "everything but the tree" at Christmas, and the activation builds that line out into a full experience: a tote bag customization station, a vintage photo booth, a cozy lounge, category-specific stations for outerwear and pajamas, a Holiday Drink Lodge with La Colombe, and a Sweater Swap with resale platform ThredUp that trades a used sweater for a new one.

The pop-up also leans on local partnerships, including a "Miles & Monograms" activation with Chicago runner Lindi Presta's Running the Runway club and a book reading with children's author Lori Orlinsky. CMO Sarah Sylvester, who took the role in March, treats the event as one piece of an always-on strategy rather than a standalone stunt: "Experiences cost more than just paying for another paid social ad," she said, adding that a brand needs "three or four big moments a year" to stay in the conversation. The content generated on-site is built to be reused across paid media, social, and search for the rest of the season.

The timing lines up with a broader turnaround: Lands' End completed a joint venture with WHP Global in April, and the brand's Q2 2026 net revenue rose 2.7 percent year over year. A heritage catalog brand throwing a three-day party in the city it was born in, backed by a coffee chain and a resale platform, is a long way from the Lands' End of a decade ago, when "experiential marketing" would have meant a slightly thicker catalog.

Source: Marketing Dive

Kyle Duford, Founder & Editor, BRNDWIRE. More from Kyle →