Lord & Taylor reopens, online sales only

Saadia Group won ownership of Lord & Taylor for $12 million in a bankruptcy auction last October and acquired RTW Retailwinds for $40 million.

Last year, the epidemic plunged Lord & Taylor into crisis and it declared bankruptcy in the late stage.

“We’re thinking about what kind of experience we can provide to our customers, and we really want to use this as a platform for the future,” Kaplan said. “There are things to learn from New York and fashion companies, and now we have those resources within us to integrate the company . ”

Lord & Taylor's remaining physical stores also announced their closure due to low customer traffic. Although the epidemic is relatively stable at present, Kaplan said that physical stores still cannot compete with online sales, so the focus now is on establishing connections with customers online.

Sadia Group has officially launched the iconic 195-year-old brand as a digital "collective store" whose merchandise will include exclusive collaborations, new launches across categories and a strong portfolio of own brands. In addition to classic collections, the new site will also focus on emerging brands.

Saadia purchased Lord & Taylor’s intellectual property and e-commerce assets from bankrupt owner Le Tote in a bankruptcy auction for $12 million in October 2020.

Jack Saadia said : “The future of retail is fast and agile, as reflected by our team who have successfully brought together the diverse merchandise and website in a record time of less than 120 days, with a steadfast commitment to continuing the brand’s rich legacy in a progressive way. Today’s unveiling is just the beginning.”

During the pandemic last year, store closures may have made consumers wary of shopping indoors, and now more and more people are accustomed to buying most goods online. And after consumers are accustomed to wearing comfortable clothes at home for a year , many analysts expect that as the epidemic eases, consumers' demand for makeup and dressing will not pick up immediately .

Le Tote bought the iconic department store from HBC for $75 million in 2019, which had leveraged the retailer's real estate but didn't do much about its declining sales. The idea for Le Tote is to bring new customers and a new approach to retail to the nearly 200-year-old Lord & Taylor, with the retailer's 45 bustling locations providing brick-and-mortar operations for the locations.

Lord & Taylor

Online Sales