Lord And Taylor Advertising Their New Digs 1914

112 years ago today one of New York’s most venerable merchants Lord & Taylor moved into their new store on Fifth Avenue between 38th and 39th Street.

This advertisement in The New York Sun newspaper appeared a couple of days before the new store would open.  Lord & Taylor’s first store on Catherine Street opened in 1826. Lord & Taylor moved many times before settling into their new 11-story building on February 24, 1914.

The central location was an important factor to insure success for department stores. New York’s shopping district was continually shifting northwards from the mid-nineteenth to the early twentieth century.

Lord & Taylor was sold to Federated Department Stores in 2006. The building became a New York City designated landmark in 2007.

WeWork initiated a deal to buy the building in 2017 with Lord & Taylor retaining space for the store on the lower floors with WeWork taking the upper floors. The store would be renovated and Lord & Taylor would relocate by subleasing space on Madison Avenue while renovations were taking place.

The sale of the building to WeWork was completed in 2019, but short-lived. While WeWork was renovating the building, Amazon expressed an interest in renting most of the building. The renovation was draining WeWork of funds and they very willing to sell.

In 2020 Amazon swooped in and bought the building for nearly $1 billion from WeWork.

With online shopping on the rise the inevitable decline of the retailer was at hand.

After nearly  200 years in business Lord & Taylor declared bankruptcy in 2020 and closed all of their locations in 2021.

Though Lord & Taylor is gone, their sign remains near the roofline.