Lord and Taylor-Another One Bites the Dust

By Eric Schoen

                The place to go for that special occasion dress. For that men’s suit, perfectly fit matched with shirt, tie, shoes and pocket hankie. The Bar Mitzvah suit or the Christening dress.Clothes that fit well, wore well, and though a tad more expensive worth every penny. The Santa Claus dolls, Caucasian and African American, a new doll added to the collection each year. And a special store featuring F.O. Schwartz toys.

                Yes, iconic Lord and Taylor where every item of clothing was special and fit just right has gone bankrupt. A sign of the times, the store is competing with larger discount chains with prices to good to match. It was bought last year by a company that specializes in rental clothing. Like the company the store couldn’t make it any more.

                Pocketbooks on the first floor with jewelry behind it. A wonderful Restaurant, The Birdcage on the main Floor. The Birdcage was special. It had a real live bird cage at its entrance. The store encouraged men and little boys like me to join their their wife or mom by offering 2 desserts with your meal.  The afternoon featured tea service, teas from all over the world accompanied by scones with clotted cream, small sandwiches to nibble on and dainty pastries offering some thing sweet served off a a silver platter or cart. We were living the dream.,

                Oh back in the good old days when department stores had restaurants. Wanamaker’s with the restaurant on the third floor, where you would follow a counter with your tray and pick up what you cared to eat. Mom loved their vegetable platter, a choice of 4 or 5 vegetables. B. Altman’s restaurant with delicious club sandwiches and a variety of hot items. Bloomingdales in White Plains restaurant with a salad bar featuring those oh so good popovers.

                The Lord and Taylor on 34th street with those very special Christmas windows every year. And beautifully polished wood counters where they would display items for sale. It was all an experience, unlike the racks of unsorted merchandise one finds in most discount stores today.

                Lord and Taylor had departments to fit petites to full sized woman, and men’s clothes from husky boys to fathers that had a few too many desserts. They key to Lord and Taylor’s was service. Someone would help you select everything you needed to look good, with tailoring service at no or a very little charge. They would fo their best to fit your time schedule if you needed your outfit tailored at the last minute.

                The company was once a mainstay of high-end fashion. Lord & Taylor opened its first store in New York in 1826, created by English immigrants Samuel Lord and George Washington Taylor when they opened their first store on the Lower East Side of Manhattan nearly 200 years ago. The store would grow and relocate six times over its first 80 years led by Dorothy Shaver, the first woman to lead a major retailer. Under Shaver it launched its first suburban branch stores and introduced the concept of personal shoppers.

                I was truly surprised when Lord and Taylor announced that they were opening a store at Ridge Hill. It seemed so out of character and out of line. The facade of the store with its gleaming glass was gorgeous. But at least during the times I was there the store seemed empty. You would go up to the second floor and be hard pressed to find someone to assist you in the men’s or woman’s department. In cosmetics and departments downstairs including jewelry assistance could readily be found. But this is not the Lord and Taylor I remember as a child.

                After the Manhattan store closed the Eastchester store became the de facto main store. It was always busy and did quite well. Initially the plan was to keep some stores open including Eastchester but the financing was not there in these difficult times. The store still is seeking buyers for several stores but it doesn’t look like that will happen

                The company was once a mainstay of high-end fashion. Lord & Taylor opened its first store in New York in 1826, created by English immigrants Samuel Lord and George Washington Taylor when they opened their first store on the Lower East Side of Manhattan nearly 200 years ago. The store would grow and relocate six times over its first 80 years led by Dorothy Shaver, the first woman to lead a major retailer. Under Shaver it launched its first suburban branch stores and introduced the concept of personal shoppers.

                But as is always the case in retail,  fierce competition from lower-priced rivals continued to grow. A series of acquisitions took place, May Department Stores in 1986, private equity firm NRDC Equity Partners in the ‘90’s, Hudson’s Bay Company acquired Lord & Taylor in 2012 before its acquisition in 2019 by Le Tote, Inc., a fashion rental subscription service, for $75 million. Le Tote tried reviving the brand with a pop-up store in New York City and remodeling its remaining stores with a focus on technology.

                Le Tote was famous for lending trendy fashion to trendy consumers,  and right before the pandemic hit I attended a cocktail party introducing Le Tote to Westchester at the Yonkers store. Beautiful party, sadly few people there. Good concept guess we will save it for another day.

                 We all have great memories of Lord and Taylor just like we have so many memories of the stores that have left us. As my sister reminds me when I was 4 years old Lord and Taylor was a sight word for me. 

Lord and Taylor. This, Too is Westchester, Eastchester and Yonkers!

Reach Eric Schoen at thistooisyonkers@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericyonkers. Listen to Eric Schoen and Dan Murphy on the Westchester Rising Radio Show Thursday’s from 10-11 a.m. On WVOX 1460 AM, go to WVOX.com and click the arrow to listen to the live stream or download the WVOX app from the App Store free of charge.