Lord & Taylor is DEAD TO ME!

Too damn expensive.

It may have been something special in its day but like so many other department stores I've visited in the last decade, it's now the same as its competitors, with no (or very few) in-house lines to attract customers.

Department stores are going the way of the dinosaurs...

Surprise. Surprise. Surprise.

Well they had closed their original flagship store on 5th Avenue two years ago. This was probably just a matter of time.

Aside from their Fifth Avenue store, the Water Tower store in Chicago, the downtown Pittsburgh store (in the former Mellon Bank), and the Philadelphia store which occupied part of the former John Wanamaker (all of which have been closed) Lord & Taylor stores were the blandest stores in the country. In even the most bustling malls (King of Prussia, Woodfield, Garden State Plaza), walking into Lord & Taylor felt like walking into the public library.

Years ago, under Associated Dry Goods, they had house label clothing which was well-made, in classic styles. Agree or disagree, that was what they stood for. The May Company got rid of all that, The quality declined, they flooded the newspapers with coupons, expanded into places they never should've expanded into (nobody in Buford, GA gives a shit about L&T) and killed the chain. It just took a while for the corpse to stop breathing.

R6

[quote] the downtown Pittsburgh store (in the former Mellon Bank)

It was a beautiful store (even though it destroyed some of the former bank building's splendor) but it was the dumbest thing to ever open there. It was *literally* right beside Kaufmann's and they carried almost identically the same items.....just a really bad idea on someone's part.

Classy joint. Sorry to see it go. Always liked spending a Saturday afternoon shopping at Lord & Taylor on Boylston Street in Boston.

The Boston store

Lord & Taylor Department Stores Sold For $100 Million To Rental Clothing Company

Lord & Taylor, one of the nation’s oldest department stores, is being sold for $100 million to a rental clothing company.

Le Tote Inc. is buying the company from Hudson’s Bay Co., which gets a minority stake in Le Tote and will control two seats on its board.

Lord & Taylor, founded as a dry goods store in 1826, has struggled recently as more people shop online. It has closed several stores, including its flagship on New York’s Fifth Avenue, which was shut for good earlier this year after more than a century in the 11-story building. There are currently 38 Lord & Taylor stores across the country.

Le Tote, created less than a decade ago in San Francisco, said Wednesday that it plans to bring clothing rental to Lord & Taylor’s customers. With clothing rental, popularized by Rent the Runway and other startups, customers pay a monthly fee to get clothes shipped to them, wear a few times and then ship them back. Traditional retailers, such as Urban Outfitters and Banana Republic, are launching their own versions.

r10 r11 That happened LAST YEAR. The new owners are the ones that are shutting it down.

I used to love Lord & Taylor. I had a charge account there.

Through the years, wages have tumbled for American workers, they could no longer keep stores like Carson's, Lord & Taylor or Marshal Fields alive. Low wages get you Walmart. It is a shame but young people have no knowledge of the lower standards that we put up with.

Nordstrom is planning to close 16 stores.

I shopped at the 5th Ave store in the 80s when I was young. It was "nothing special" but it was a big, calm, elegant store with quality merchandise and professional service. It and B Altman were the calm stores. You could pop in at lunch and buy a present for someone and it was quickly done with quality brands. Not high luxury. Not crap. Everything was clean and orderly. There's no market for what they built their trade on. Probably disappeared in the 90s already.

Clothing rental? Sharing pass around used clothing? Good luck with that in 2020.

R17 reading skills?

Sorry, I was only commenting on Le Tote’s now unfortunate business model. I did realize, from the corrections given at r12, that they no longer own L&T. That wasn’t clear from my commentary which was off topic. Thanks for pointing out my poor writing and reading comprehension skills professor. I’m rightfully chastised.

Never stepped foot in one, but every job I've had, the secretaries would always come back from lunch break with a Lord & Taylor bag. I assumed it was some sort of secretary heaven.

40 lashes with a wet noodle

[quote] There's no market for what they built their trade on. Probably disappeared in the 90s already.

You may be right, but before the pandemic, I thought L&T could still be viable as a small, 9 or 10 store specialty store chain, mostly in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, positioned between Macy's and Saks. Get rid of the mall locations, keep the profitable, free-standing locations in well-to-do areas such as Boston; Manhasset, NY; Garden City, NY; Westchester, NY; Westfield, NJ; Ridgewood, NJ; Bala-Cynwyd, PA; Stamford, CT, Chevy Chase, DC, and Boca Raton, FL.

Focus on emerging designers at reasonable price points to create excitement, and curate your selection so the customer isn't wading into a sea of racks like Macy's. Get rid of the horrible yellow signage that looks like an airport and bring back the classic logo. Emphasize service, that's the most frequent complaint as to why people choose to shop on line. Give the customer a reason to get away from the computer and visit your store in person.

But none of that would work now.

I left NY in the 90s permanently for London, Paris then Geneva. The department store culture that was dead in USA was fine in Europe. The service in Paris and especially Geneva and Zurich - was excellent. Hamburg, Munich. It started to fade by 2010 and now I wonder if the party is over. A couple luxury grand surface went way upscale for the .1% so someone like me can't shop there. I will regret when the middle class ones fold here (Paris, Geneva) because they still had the service until about 2010 and were not shit bins like Macys USA. 2010-2020 the selection, variety and sales expertise faded steadily. Time marches on!

r19 Get ready to be chastised again. Le Tote does still own L&T. The point I was trying to make upthread was in response to the person who posted the Le Tote acquisition as if it had just happened, when in fact they bought it (from the Hudson Bay Co.) last year. Le Tote is the one dumping Lord and Taylor now. Sorry if that was unnecessarily confusing.

[quote] I left NY in the 90s permanently for London, Paris then Geneva.

Well, excuse me!

What I suspect will happen, they will liquidate and Walmart will purchase all the remaining intellectual property at a huge discount. Walmart already has a partnership with the brand, selling it through their website. Walmart is one of the few retailers flushed with cash as a result of the crisis. Using the Lord and Taylor name will be an easy way for them to market themselves to higher-end consumers, in more affluent markets. And, to make a play for the more fashion conscious budget consumers, who have been flocking to Target.

My mother buys all her makeup from the one near her house. We used to go there and have lunch after she had her face touched up and stocked up on foundation, eye shadow and perfume. My father opened her an account there and used to get upset when she spent too much on shoes

I used to love shopping at Lord & Taylor in Houston in the 90s.

They officially filed for bankruptcy

High end department stores are a thing of the past. The middle class is basically dead so you can forget them buying nice things and wealthy people can go to boutiques or just go into a designers store.

They were always a Saks wannabe.