“While we still have several opportunities, we believe it is prudent to put the rest of the stores into liquidation at the same time to maximize the value of the inventory for the estate while pursuing options for the company’s brands,” “Ed Kremer, Lord & Taylor’s chief restructuring officer, said in a statement.
Lord & Taylor filed for bankruptcy on August 2, listing on a number of exclusive retailers in recent months. It first announced that 19 stores would close, and increased that number a few weeks later to 24. Now each store will close for good.
Liquidator Hilco Merchant Resources promised in a statement on Thursday extended deep cuts,
“Discounts apply to existing inventory, new arrival of stores and to new categories not previously sold at these stores,” it said. “The historic event will also include the sale of furnishings in shop, furniture and equipment.”
According to the website, Lord & Taylor was 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 in the first 80 years, moving to its flagship Fifth Avenue store in Times Square in 1914. By then, the company had been publicly traded for 10 years.
The company flourished in the years after World War II, led by Dorothy Shaver, the first woman to lead a large retailer. Under Shaver, it launched its first suburban shopping malls and introduced the concept of personal retailers.
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