Lord & Taylor to liquidate 5 more stores

Dive Brief:

Lord & Taylor owner Le Tote said it's adding five more permanent store closures to its plans, with a joint venture of Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers now liquidating 24 locations.
Lord & Taylor stores in Schaumburg, Illinois; Salem, New Hampshire; Rockaway, New Jersey; Livingston, New Jersey; and Huntington Station, New York have joined the 19 previously announced liquidations already underway, according to a press release.
Both the apparel rental site and its department store business "continue to review offers for a sale of the Company and its historic and trailblazing brands," per the release.

Dive Insight:

Le Tote's purchase of Lord & Taylor a year ago was centered on leveraging most of the department store's locations, as it looked for growth beyond the internet — with the notable exception of the famous Fifth Avenue flagship.

That store was sold to coworking company WeWork in 2019 and just this week was snapped up by Amazon.

Le Tote had taken on 38 of Lord & Taylor's 45 remaining stores when it bought the two century-old department store business from Hudson's Bay Co. Now, with the pandemic pummeling most retailers, Le Tote's previous hopes have been dashed and much of that footprint is being swept away, as the company regroups in bankruptcy. Earlier this month the company said it is now soliciting bids for a going concern sale of both its Le Tote and Lord & Taylor businesses.

Rather than plotting how to meld their businesses, the companies are now selling off store fixtures and touting steep discounts at the liquidation sales on merchandise from brands including Vince Camuto, Michael Kors, Calvin Klein and Adidas, among others, at discounts of some 20% to 40% "off the lowest ticketed prices on all merchandise, with limited exceptions," per the release.

That could lure consumers into those stores, although many remain wary of shopping indoors, and the liquidation sales must compete with other heavy promotions from retailers working to coax customers to buy during a time of financial difficulty.