Lord & Taylor, one of America's oldest department stores, has filed for bankruptcy, joining a growing list of stores slammed by t...
Lord & Taylor, one of America's oldest department stores, has filed for bankruptcy, joining a growing list of stores slammed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Tailored Brands, the parent company of Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Banks, filed for bankruptcy, as well.
Many of the companies that have filed for Chapter 11 in recent weeks were already struggling, but the forced closure of non-essential stores in March pushed them to the brink.
Lord & Taylor, which was sold to the French rental clothing company Le Tote Inc. last year, filed Sunday for bankruptcy protection in the Eastern Court of Virginia.
New York landmark retailer Lord & Taylor has filed for bankruptcy, joining a growing list of retailers flummoxed by the pandemic. In this January 2019, file photo, women peer in the front door of Lord & Taylor's flagship Fifth Avenue store, which closed for good in New York
Mannequins are pictured inside a closed Lord & Taylor department store at the Wisconsin Place shopping center in Washington on April 29
The company estimated both assets and liabilities in the range of $100 million to $500 million.
Reuters reported in May that Lord & Taylor planned to liquidate inventory in its 38 department stores once restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus were lifted as it braced for a bankruptcy process from which it did not expect to emerge.
Lord & Taylor had been exploring other options as well as filing for bankruptcy.
In an announcement on its website the company, one of the oldest American department stores, said it was looking for a new owner.
Like many retailers, Lord & Taylor was already struggling with the shift to online shopping even before the pandemic struck this spring.
Last year, it sold its flagship building on New York's Fifth Avenue after more than a century in the 11-story building. Fashion rental service start-up Le Tote acquired Lord & Taylor from Saks Fifth Avenue owner Hudson's Bay Company for $100 million in Canadian dollars ($74.62 million).
Hudson's Bay had kept ownership of some of Lord & Taylor's real estate and assumed responsibility for its rent payments, amounting to tens of millions of dollars a year.
The company was founded as a dry goods store in 1826 by two English immigrants on the Lower East Side in New York City. During the Civil War in the 1860s, it opened a special section offering mourning apparel for widows.
Lord & Taylor opened its flagship store on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue in 1914, and became known for upscale fashion and its holiday window display.
There are several dozen Lord & Taylor stores across the country.
In a Sunday announcement on its website the company said it was looking for a new owner. Pictured, a Lord & Taylor department store stands next to empty parking lots at the King of Prussia Mall in Upper Merion Township, Pennsylvania on May 21
Tailored Brands, which filed for Chapter 11 Sunday in the Southern District of Texas, said it would continue to operate Men's Wearhouse and other stores it owns
The company was already struggling with competition from fast-fashion brands and a shift to online shopping before the pandemic, and said in July it would reduce its corporate workforce by 20% and shut as many as 500 stores. Men's Wearhouse in New York is pictured on July 31
Tailored Brands, which filed for Chapter 11 Sunday in the Southern District of Texas, said it would continue to operate Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Banks stores, along with K&G Fashion Superstore and Moores Clothing for Men, which it also owns.
The company listed both its assets and liabilities in the range of $1 billion to $10 billion.
It said in a release that a restructuring plan is expected to reduce the company's funded debt by at least $630 million and provide increased financial flexibility.
Tailored Brands said last week it could consider filing for bankruptcy as soon as the third quarter, hit by a plunge in sales.
The company was already struggling with competition from fast-fashion brands and a shift to online shopping before the pandemic, and said in July it would reduce its corporate workforce by 20% and shut as many as 500 stores.
Others companies that have filed bankruptcy this year include J. Crew, J.C. Penney, Neiman Marcus, Stage Stores, and Ascena Retail Group which owns Lane Bryant (pictured)
As many people have switched to working at home, brands that sell clothes targeted at offices workers have had a particularly hard time.
Brooks Brothers and the parent company of Ann Taylor are among those that have also filed for bankruptcy.
As of July 23, roughly 40 retailers, including big and small companies, had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy so far this year.
That exceeds the number of retail bankruptcies for all of last year. About two dozen of them have sought bankruptcy protection since the pandemic started.
Others include J. Crew, J.C. Penney, Neiman Marcus, Stage Stores, and Ascena Retail Group, which owns Lane Bryant in addition to Ann Taylor. Many of the brands announced they had filed in May and in July Lucky Brand did so too.
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