Lord & Taylor department store Files for Bankruptcy

The 194-year old department store, Lord & Taylor recently filed for bankruptcy. Before the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic, the department store was struggling financially until the pandemic brought the final blow which sent it into bankruptcy.

Lord & Taylor has become the latest retailer to file for bankruptcy, a move it took on Sunday. The department store was acquired last year by Le Tote, a clothing rental start-up in a $75 million deal. Unexpectedly, business hasn’t been so great for both Le Tote and Lord & Taylor as both companies now seek Chapter 11 protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Eastern District of Virginia.

The company estimated its assets and liabilities within a range of $100 million to $500 million in the bankruptcy filing. As the oldest department store in the U.S., Lord & Taylor is also considering exploring other options to get back on track.

Le Tote acquired Lord & Taylor last year from Hudson’s Bay Company. Although, Hudson’s Bay retained ownership of some of Lord & Taylor’s real estate, as well as assumed responsibility for the rent payments which would amount to tens of millions of dollars per year.

In the Sunday filing, Le Tote and Lord & Taylor said their 38 locations which they operate in have been temporarily closed since mid-March 2020, according to a spokesperson for Le Tote and Lord & Taylor. Reuters also reported in May that Lord & Taylor had plans to liquidate inventory in all its department stores to help curb further spread of the coronavirus.

In the last four months, quite a number of big name companies have filed for Chapter 11 protection while smaller companies have simply closed down. Some of the companies that have filed for bankruptcy so far include J. Crew, J.C. Penny, Neiman Marcus, Brooks Brothers, amongst many others.

Lord & Taylor is one of the oldest department stores founded in 1826 by two English immigrants, Samuel Lord and George Washington Taylor. The store was first located on the Lower East Side in New York City.

The department store opened its flagship store in 1914 on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue. It soon became popular for its upscale fashion and holiday window display.