- RTW Retailwinds, parent company of New York & Co. and Fashion to Figure, filed for bankruptcy on Monday with plans to permanently close a “significant portion, if not all” of its stores.
- However, for decades New York & Co., formerly known as Lerner Shops until 1992, had been a thriving staple of American retail in both downtown malls and traditional malls across the country.
- We take a closer look at the rise and fall of the women’s clothing company over the years.
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RTW Retailwinds, parent company of New York & Company and Fashion to Figure, filed for bankruptcy Monday after more than a century in business.
The company said in a statement that the liquidation process has begun and that it intends to close a “significant portion, if not all” of its stores. However, for decades, the company once prospered as a destination for women’s apparel.
New York & Co. started as a blouse store in Manhattan called Lerner Shops in 1918, which eventually flourished in a sprawling chain of women’s clothing stores across the United States. Over the years, the popular retailer became one of the first national chains to join shopping centers and malls, establishing itself as one of the first pillars of the American shopping center.
In 1985 it was bought by The Limited Brands and renamed New York & Company, the brand that consumers know today. Although the store continued to be successful for the first few years, it eventually fell prey to retail apocalypses and joined its mall brand peers in the fight to compete with the rise of e-commerce and declining foot traffic.
By 2020, the years of slumping sales along with the temporary store closings during the coronavirus outbreak served as the nail in the coffin for New York & Co. We take a closer look at the brand boom and bust throughout of the years.
