Lord & Taylor has formally notified New York state that its store at the Palisades Center shopping mall in West Nyack will be closing Jan. 31.
It was widely reported in September that the store would be closing but the reports were not confirmed by store or mall officials at that time. The Oct. 31 filing of a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice with the state”™s Department of Labor provides formal notice of what will be happening.
The notice says that all 91 of the store”™s workers will be affected and that the employee terminations are expected to begin on Jan. 31. It states that the reason for the store closing is economic.
The Business Journal”™s Kevin Zimmerman reported in August that San Francisco fashion rental subscription service Le Tote was acquiring the Lord & Taylor department store chain for $100 million from Hudson”™s Bay Co.
Under the terms of the agreement, Le Tote was to acquire the Lord & Taylor brand and related intellectual property while assuming operations of 38 stores ”“ including those in Danbury, Stamford and Trumbull in Fairfield County, and in Scarsdale and Yonkers in Westchester ”“ Lord & Taylor”™s digital channels and associated inventory.
Le Tote said it expected to extend employment offers to “the vast majority” of Lord & Taylor employees.
Hudson”™s Bay Co. (HBC) was to receive $75 million in cash upon the transaction”™s closing and a secured promissory note for $25 million payable in cash after two years. In addition, HBC was to receive an equity stake in Le Tote, two seats on its board of directors and “certain rights as a minority shareholder.”
HBC and HBS Global Properties, HBC”™s real estate joint venture, were to retain ownership of all owned and ground-leased real estate assets related to Lord & Taylor. For at least the initial three years, HBC has agreed to maintain economic responsibility for the rent payments owed by Lord & Taylor at the locations operated by Le Tote.
Starting in 2021, HBC and Le Tote were to have options to reassess the Lord & Taylor store network, which the companies said may include “HBC recapturing select locations to determine their highest and best use, including possible redevelopment into mixed-use properties with a variety of services, experiences and retail offerings.”
