Flexibility and dynamism are not terms widely associated with Lord & Taylor, the department store mostly popular with traditionalists and older consumers, who knew the company in its heyday. Following a common retail pattern for department stores, Lord & Taylor has undergone substantial shrinking in recent years, including the closure of its New York flagship store, together with dozens of other locations. On its comeback mission though, Lord & Taylor is trying something totally different, and that’s where the flexibility comes into play. Purchased by a tech company, the retail operations now revolve around finding ways to integrate the remaining retail stores with a fashion rental service, as well as pop-up options that can get urban trendsetters interested in the brand. The tech company, Le Tote, also runs the rental service, and recent experiments include installing rental counters within department stores, to introduce the option to traditional shoppers. Then over a recent holiday season, it hosted a short-term pop-up store in New York’s hip Soho neighborhood, trying to remind young, working women that they could visit a storefront, as well as rent their professional clothing online. In an extension of this experiment, Le Tote plans to develop and open small-scale, segment-specific, and dedicated Lord & Taylor–branded stores (e.g., featuring only beauty brands) in various locations throughout the country in coming months. Because the negotiated purchase of Lord & Taylor included a concession that meant Le Tote does not have to pay rent for any Lord & Taylor properties for the first three years, the company sees substantial room and leeway for experimentation. And it is determined to be flexible enough to take advantage of these opportunities to keep Lord & Taylor around for many more generations.
Source: Jessica Testa, The New York Times, December 11, 2019