Lord & Taylor to liquidate inventory, Nordstrom to close 16 stores

Two nationally prominent retailers are taking different approaches in returning to brick-and-mortar operations.

Lord & Taylor is planning to liquidate inventory in 38 stores once state governments lift their restrictions on retail operations. According to a Reuters report citing unnamed “people familiar with the matter,” the company is also bracing for a “bankruptcy process from which it does not expect to emerge,” adding that liquidators are being recruited to coordinate “going out of business” sales.

Lord & Taylor was founded in 1826 and is the nation”™s oldest department store chain. Reuters”™ unnamed sources added that it “remained possible that external funding or some other intervention could rescue Lord & Taylor.” The company did not publicly comment on the Reuters report.

Lord & Taylor has Fairfield County stores in Danbury, Stamford and Trumbull and Westchester stores in Scarsdale and Yonkers.

Separately, Nordstrom has announced plans to close 16 of its stores. In a press statement, the company said that it would reopen its other stores “in a phased, market-by-market approach where allowed by local authorities and with the health and safety of employees, customers and communities as a priority.”

The company said it would be “restructuring its regions, support roles and corporate organization for greater speed and flexibility. This restructuring is expected to result in expense savings of approximately $150 million, or 30% of the company”™s previously announced plans for net cash reductions of more than $500 million in operating expenses, capital expenditures and working capital. These actions, combined with its initial savings plan of $200 (million) to $250 million, represent a reduction in non-occupancy related overhead expenses of approximately 20 percent.”

Nordstrom opened its first Fairfield County store last fall at the SoNo Collection in Norwalk, and its also has a store at The Westchester in White Plains.