
Lord and Taylor, Oldest U.S. Department Store, Files Bankruptcy - gbourne
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/lord-taylor-oldest-u-s-department-store-files-bankruptcy-1.1474568
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justinzollars
The scary part is this is just the beginning. I took a drive through San
Francisco a few days ago and I was shocked to see many restaurants I used to
patron are gone already.

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nikanj
Every time I walk through downtown I shake my head in confusion. Every other
shop seems closed, but the stock market is at an all-time high.

Clearly selling products and services to consumers is passé, and
financialization is the future.

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AnimalMuppet
Clearly _using very expensive real estate_ to sell products and services to
consumers is passe. That's not quite the same thing.

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sct202
Le Tote the owner of Lord and Taylor was part of ycombinators summer 2013
batch. Sad that a decision made last year dragged them down probably due to
covid.

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andrewem
I see Le Tote purchased it last year from Hudson's Bay Company, which is _very
old_. Quoting Wikipedia: "After incorporation by English royal charter in
1670, the company functioned as the de facto government in parts of North
America for nearly 200 years until the HBC sold the land it owned".

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson%27s_Bay_Company](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson%27s_Bay_Company)

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graeme
As a Canadian, I’ve nervously watched them for years. Their archives have a
lot of our history and for that reason I hope they stay in business.

(I’m sure someone would take it over, but it’s neat to have the continuity.
And nervously, because downtown high street retail is a declining business?

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Multicomp
This may be off topic, not sure, but will go for it since not a lot of
discussion yet.

I've never even heard of this company. Perhaps I'm just part of the unwashed
masses? I know Dillard's, Neiman Marcus, Sachs Fifth Ave, ummm and that's
about it from the perspective of my layman's understanding of department
stores.

If this company has never managed to inform me of its name over the decades I
have been alive and browsing online, perhaps this bankruptcy is not as huge as
surprised as one might think poor marketing, poor awareness, poor sales...?

~~~
mac01021
I think it's more like a JC Penney or Macy's (neither of which you listed)? Or
maybe those are all the same thing but I'm not acquainted with the ones you
listed.

I've seen them in shopping malls in the northeast but never gone in.

AFAICT, department stores never really carry anything that I would want to
buy. If the number of people who feel as I do is increasing, then perhaps all
the other dept store chains are close behind.

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dylan604
What kind of things do you buy? Department stores carried pretty much
everything except Rx. Clothing, furniture, appliances, bedding, tools, etc.
Maybe it was a style difference, but to say they carried anything that you'd
want to buy seems hyperbolic.

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1vuio0pswjnm7
[https://lite.cnn.com/en/article/h_8bec16d7f6b2bd5acde09e9dcd...](https://lite.cnn.com/en/article/h_8bec16d7f6b2bd5acde09e9dcd5b567d)

Barneys and Brooks Brothers RIP.

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jerrysievert
I will very much miss brooks brothers. their non-iron shirts were absolutely
amazing.

anyone have a source for something as good?

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chrisseaton
I wear Charles Tyrwhitt shirts.

But I’ve never seen a shirt that was literally non-iron - they still need an
iron to press and put the creases back in.

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jerrysievert
brooks brothers non-iron shirts can be wadded up for days - when you put it
on, your body heat puts it back into perfect shape, including creases. it is
absolutely amazing.

here's an article about them - note the quote near the bottom that matches my
experiences exactly: [https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-war-over-non-iron-
shirts-14...](https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-war-over-non-iron-
shirts-1462386777)

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chrisseaton
Well I’m sure you’re telling the truth but I’m extremely surprised - even the
best non-iron shirts I’ve ever tried still needed to be pressed to be
presentable even straight out of a tumble dryer, let alone after being wadded
up.

I mean how can they simultaneously hold creases in the right places but
resistant to creases in the wrong places? How does the fabric know which
creases you need and which you don’t?

And even the shirts in the article saying they don’t need ironing... look like
they need a good ironing!

But I guess I won’t be able to try the shirts you’ve used if they’re going
bankrupt.

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jerrysievert
> _I mean how can they simultaneously hold creases in the right places but
> resistant to creases in the wrong places? How does the fabric know which
> creases you need and which you don’t?_

how do shape memory materials work in general? in this case, heat is the
stimulus, which returns the fabric to its pre-set state. it's pressed and
treated chemically essentially converting the fabric into an SMM.

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jhallenworld
From 2017:

[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/24/business/lord-taylor-
wewo...](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/24/business/lord-taylor-wework.html)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTI9Yyxqzhs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTI9Yyxqzhs)

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zalkota
Out with the old and weak, in with the strong!

