Lord
& Taylor - (en)
Lord & Taylor, based in New York, New York, is the oldest
department store chain in the United States. Lord & Taylor is also
the only surviving department store nameplate of the former Associated
Dry Goods Corp., as well as May Company, it is owned and operated by
NRDC Equity Partners, LLC. NRDC bought the chain from Federated
Department Stores in October 2006 as Federated sought to concentrate
on the Macy's chain after their purchase of May Department Stores.
History
A store of firsts
Samuel Lord and George Washington Taylor founded the company in 1826;
it was the first major store on Fifth Avenue. Among other firsts, it
was the first store to present innovative Christmas windows filled
with holiday displays rather than merchandise, and the first to open a
branch store (1941 in Manhasset). Lord & Taylor is also known for
playing the national anthem before the start of each business day.
In 1916 Lord & Taylor became a founding member of the American Dry
Goods Co., soon after renamed Associated Dry Goods Corp. It was a
long-time fashion leader and considered the “crown jewel” of
Associated; when the May Company acquired ADG in 1986, it was assumed
that May bought ADG just for the upscale Lord & Taylor division.
Dorothy Shaver
In 1945, Lord & Taylor became the first major store on Fifth
Avenue to name a female as president. That woman was Dorothy Shaver.
Shaver's association with Lord & Taylor began in 1921 when
then-President Samuel Reyburn encouraged her to promote and market
"Five Little Shavers," a family of dolls created by her
sister, Elsie. Dorothy Shaver's challenges grew when she officially
joined Lord & Taylor in 1924 as head of the Comparative Shopping
Bureau. It didn't take her long to re-channel the department's focus
from the competition to Lord & Taylor's own customers, putting
them first by providing one on one help as they made their selections.
With that, the concept of the Personal Shopper was born, flourishing
today at Lord & Taylor as Red Rose Personal Shopping Service.
During her first few months with the store, she submitted an entirely
unsolicited report to the president, analyzing what was wrong with the
company and how to correct it.
Shaver was given more responsibility, sales increased and, in 1927,
her innovations earned her membership on Lord & Taylor's Board of
Directors. In 1931, she was appointed Vice President, and became First
Vice President in 1937. In 1941 Ms. Shaver, working with the
well-known design guru Raymond Loewy, opened in Manhasset what is
credited as the first true branch store in America. Unlike earlier
forays into the suburbs that consisted of smaller boutique-style shops,
this was a merchandising effort that became the model for modern
suburban shopping. The store consisted of 66 individual shops. She was
elected president in 1945, the first woman to head a major retail
establishment in the United States.
Many of the Lord & Taylor's special services were introduced while
Shaver presided, and it was during this period that she introduced
both the distinctive hand written logo (The Signature of American
Style), and the American Beauty Rose as a symbol of the store. Her era
ended officially upon her death in 1959, but Shaver's legacy and
innovative retailing concepts continue at Lord & Taylor to this
day.
In June 2000, Lord & Taylor appointed its second female President
& CEO, Jane Elfers, who remains at the helm of the venerable
retailer.
Expansion and retreat
While a part of Associated, William J. Lippincott was promoted to
president in 1968, succeeding Melvin E. Dawley (who succeeded Dorothy
Shaver), and was elected chairman and chief executive in 1972. His The
New York Times obituary read: "In his years as president and
chairman, Lord & Taylor moved beyond its traditional territory in
the Northeast to open stores in Atlanta, Houston and Dallas and four
stores in Illinois." A management shakeup ousted him in 1976.
Under the leadership of CEO Joseph E. Brooks during the 1970s, the
company aggressively expanded into Texas, Illinois and Michigan and in
the early 1980s South Florida saw 11 stores opened in quick succession.
The chain partially withdrew from the oil-shocked Texas and southern
Florida markets in 1989-1990 after its 1986 acquisition by May.
Under May, the majority of ADG's Hahne & Co. division (six New
Jersey locations) and several former John Wanamaker's and Woodward
& Lothrop locations were assumed by Lord & Taylor. From 1997
to 2006, Lord & Taylor occupied the former Wanamaker's flagship
store in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
During the 1990s and early 2000s, May attempted to take the chain
national. Under the leadership of CEO Marshall Hillsberg, Lord &
Taylor once again entered the expansion mode in the 1990s, opening
stores as far west as Denver, with plans to enter the Las Vegas,
Nevada market. At one time, Lord & Taylor had as many as 86 stores
across the country.
After continuing tepid results and repeated tinkering with its
merchandising, May gave up its national ambitions for the division.
Newly appointed President and CEO Jane Elfers announced the shuttering
of 32 stores in 2003 (representing 38% of the division's store base
and 35% of its total square footage, but only 19% of total sales).
Many of the closed locations were only a few years old and most were
in a market where most people were not willing to spend Lord &
Taylor's prices. The company's strategy for the move was to
concentrate on its "core" East Coast Corridor markets (New
York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., metro) as well its
midwest locations in Chicago, Detroit, and St. Louis.
Amidst these changes, Lord & Taylor ceded its postwar position as
a fashion leader in the 1980s and 1990s to Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman
Marcus, and Nordstrom.
Moving forward after the 2003 restructuring
Following its dramatic restructuring in 2003, Lord & Taylor's
leadership sought a return to the store's roots. Renewed focus was
placed on creating and maintaining an upscale shopping experience in
the remaining 54 locations, with determination to leave behind
perception of a middle-of-the-road merchandising strategy. Alterations
such as conversion of remaining Lord & Taylor Cafés into Larry
Forgione's Signature Cafés were evidence of the chain's intent to
have a more clearly defined signature style.
Just three years later, the continuation of this effort came into
doubt when the May Department Stores was acquired by Federated
Department Stores on August 30, 2005. Lord & Taylor pursued the
same market as Federated's Bloomingdale's chain, and on January 12,
2006, Federated chairman, president, and CEO Terry Lundgren announced
that Lord & Taylor would be sold by the end of the year.
Current status
In early March 2006, prepping the company for sale, Federated
announced that 5 underperforming Lord & Taylor stores would close
(Christiana Mall, Delaware; North Shore Mall, Massachusetts; Fairlane
Town Center, Michigan; Westfield West County and St. Louis Galleria,
Missouri).
The Center City, Philadelphia store, the former flagship of the John
Wanamaker chain, was converted to Macy's on August 1, 2006, replacing
the neighboring Strawbridge's flagship at The Gallery at Market East.
On June 22, 2006, it announced that NDRC Equity Partners, LLC would
purchase Lord & Taylor for $1.2 billion, a sale that was completed
in October 2006.
