For many New Yorkers, the closure of Lord & Taylor’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue at the end of 2018 was an unpleasant event. After all, it is the oldest department store in the city, which has worked for more than 100 years and was a kind of attraction. But, although the Lord & Taylor chain owned 50 outlets in 2016 and looked quite successful, in 2018, it was announced that 10 of them were closed, including the legendary flagship, the premises of which were transferred to the company WeWork, specializing in providing offices for rent (according to some data, this purchase was unsuccessful).
But recently, it became known about Lord & Taylor’s intention to return to New York again. It was announced by the new owners of the chain – the clothing rental company Le Tote. However, we are not talking about any department store yet. A temporary shop with an area of 2,400 square feet (225 sq.m.) will be opened in Soho district, which is noticeably less than 676,000-square-foot (65000 sq.m.), on which the famous department store was once located. But the very fact of return can’t help but draw attention to itself.
Le Tote has finished the transaction on acquisition Lord & Taylor from Hudson’s Bay for 100 million dollars in cash at the beginning of 2019. According to Hudson’s Bay, the brand was sold to increase the balance, focus on the development of the Saks Fifth Avenue chain, and the expansion of the store chain in Canada.
According to the new owners, they want to rejuvenate the Lord & Taylor brand, make the chain more attractive to the next generation, freeing its stores from the image of “where my mother buys.” And opening a temporary store is one of the first steps in this direction. It will be able to buy clothes, accessories, jewelry, and gift sets for the holidays. There will also be a small department dedicated to the rental of clothes from Le Tote.
