Lord Taylor

About Lord Taylor

Lord and Taylor, the oldest department store chain in the US, filed for bankruptcy in August 2020. Founded in 1826, Lord and Taylor had operated for 194 years. The chain had been acquired by Le Tote, a clothing rental startup, in 2019 for 100 million. Le Tote filed for bankruptcy the following year. The COVID pandemic accelerated the decline. Lord and Taylor closed all 38 stores. The brand was acquired by Saadia Group in 2021 for its intellectual property. The closure of Lord and Taylor marked the end of a retail era. The brand was relaunched as an online only retailer but without the flagship stores that had been community institutions for nearly two centuries. The case illustrates how even centuries old retailers cannot survive digital disruption without adaptation.