Lord & Taylor, Oldest U.S. Department Store, Files For Bankruptcy

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A woman walks out of Lord & Taylor’s flagship store in Manhattan in June 2018, before the location was closed and the building was sold in 2019.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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Another Bankruptcy At The Mall: Parent Company Of Ann Taylor, Loft Is Latest To Fail

But the pandemic has wreaked havoc on brick-and-mortar retailers, combing with particular ruthlessness through flagging apparel stores. As people spent months holed up at home, clothing sales collapsed.

Companies including the parent of Ann Taylor and Loft, J. Crew, Neiman Marcus, J.C. Penney, Brooks Brothers and New York & Co. were among those turning to bankruptcy proceedings as a way to restructure and survive. Now both Lord & Taylor and Le Tote join this list.

At almost 200 years old, Lord & Taylor is credited with launching the first personal shoppers in the 1950s and even inventing the department store window display in the 1930s, featuring bleached cornflakes for snowflakes.

Selling itself to a 7-year-old startup was the company’s last-ditch effort to bounce back. Last year, before the sale to Le Tote, Lord & Taylor had closed its flagship store on Manhattan’s 5th Avenue and sold the iconic building to WeWork.