Lord & Taylor, one of the country’s oldest department store chains, is going out of business after filing for bankruptcy earlier this month.
What We Know:
- After nearly two centuries in business, Lord & Taylor is liquidating all of its assets and closing its doors. The company filed for bankruptcy at the beginning of August and joined the long list of retailers who were hit with a financial downfall due to the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement came late last week in which the company announced it will close all 38 of its remaining stores and its website.
“While we are still entertaining various opportunities, we believe it is prudent to simultaneously put the remainder of the stores into liquidation to maximize the value of inventory for the estate while pursuing options for the company’s brands,” Ed Kremer, the Company’s chief restructuring officer said in a statement.
- All of the company’s existing inventory, new store arrivals, and new items not previously sold at stores will be available at a deep discount. In-store fixtures, furniture, and equipment will also be sold.
- Kremer shared that the Lord & Taylor team is working continuously to “preserve this historic brand”. Lord & Taylor first opened as a dry goods store in New York City’s Lower East Side in 1826. It was founded by English immigrants Samuel Lord and George Washington Taylor and the store grew into a mainstay for luxury shoppers. It is also credited for exhibiting one of the first animated Christmas window displays. The company thrived during World War II, selling a record-breaking $2 million worth of war bonds in one day. After the war, Dorothy Shaver was president of the company, the first woman to be in charge of a major retailer. During her leadership, the company opened its first suburban stores, introduced personal shopping, and launched a dog wear line.
- Starting in the 1980s, Lord & Taylor started facing challenges as lower-priced department rivals entered the market. Most recently, last year, Canadian parent company Hudson’s Bay Company sold Lord & Taylor for $100 million to Le Tote, Inc., a fashion rental subscription service. Le Tote’s plan was to reformat Lord & Taylor’s stores and “merge its e-commerce system with the new owner’s existing app for a unified technology platform”.
- Le Tote CEO Rakesh Tondon told Vogue Business in November that the company could become profitable within 12 months. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, retailers across the country were forced to close their doors to limit the spread of the deadly virus, a move that hit Lord & Taylor especially hard, forcing the company to liquidate in an effort to recoup some of its losses.
Lord & Taylor was slowly shrinking before the pandemic. However, last year, it closed its 11-story flagship store on New York’s Fifth Avenue, which it owned for more than a century. Unfortunately, the pandemic was truly the tipping point for the legendary company.
