Only a few days ago JCPenney was voted America’s favorite department store for the second year running by readers of USA Today…and now comes news that department store chain Lord & Taylor is slated for a comeback.
Nostalgia really might be what it used to be after all, at least when it comes to department stores.
Thanks to Regal Brands Global, the latest owner of the 198-year-old retailer, there are plans to relaunch the business as a discount luxury e-commerce platform in 2025, offering a mix of designer merchandise and Lord & Taylor-branded products, working with distributors to sell products manufactured by licensees.
The site initially will feature a luxury category for designer and luxury brands, a Lord & Taylor heritage section, a dedicated dress section, plus a Gen Z-focused store featuring younger fashion styles at affordable price points.
Regal Brands’ Chief Brand and Strategy Officer Sina Yenel told media outlets that the company envisions the revitalized brand as a destination for quality and variety.
Regal Brands Global acquired the Lord & Taylor intellectual property in September of this year after its previous owner, investment firm Saadia Group, ceased operations earlier this year.
Lord & Taylor Changes Owner
Founded in 1826, Lord & Taylor became a household name in womenswear but had struggled in recent decades and its The Eastchester store became the de facto flagship after Lord & Taylor’s former owner, Hudson’s Bay Company, officially closed the legendary Fifth Avenue flagship on Jan. 2, 2019.
HBC had owned Lord & Taylor since 2012 but seemed unable to find a place for Lord & Taylor within its department store portfolio and in November 2019 it sold the business to Le Tote, an apparel rental start-up firm. Le Tote aimed to reinvent Lord & Taylor as a tech savvy retailer replete with rental boutiques and other amenities.
However, Le Tote filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Aug. 2, 2020 with the hope at the time that 19 of its 38 remaining stores could be saved, but the real estate proved beyond rescue.
Instead, the intellectual property and e-commerce assets of the iconic department store retailer was then sold to Saadia Group by Le Tote Inc. in a bankruptcy auction in October for $12 million and Saadia Group subsequently relaunched the chain as an e-commerce website in 2021.
Lord & Taylor History
Founders Samuel Lord and George Washington Taylor opened their initial dry goods store in April 1826 at 47 Catherine Street in Lower Manhattan, New York and by the time it had opened its iconic location at Fifth Avenue and West 38th Street in 1914, Lord & Taylor was already billed ‘America’s Oldest Store.’
Store president from 1946 until her death in 1959, Dorothy Shaver helped transition Lord & Taylor into an exclusive Fifth Avenue fashion destination and kickstarted its store expansion program, which was accelerated when May Department Stores purchased Lord & Taylor in 1986. May also discontinued the retailer’s home and furniture departments and focused on dresses, career wear and accessories.
By 2003, the department store group had 86 locations but the sense that Lord & Taylor’s offer was out time were only reinforced after its Fifth Avenue flagship closed.
In its latest rebirth, the brand now will focus on off-price retailing and licensing rather than re-entering the brick-and-mortar retail space, a move which Yenel said that he believes aligns with current retail trends.
However, Regal Brands reportedly aims to position Lord & Taylor products in high-end retailers such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom and the revamped company has reportedly already secured multiple licensing agreements and plans to bring Lord & Taylor-branded goods to stores by early 2025.
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