Lord & Taylor

Shoppers check out a holiday window, via The Library of Congress

December 1, 2022

Macy’s, Lord & Taylor, and more: The history of New York City’s holiday windows

Santa rode in on his sleigh at the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Christmas Tree is now lit at Rockefeller Center, so you know what that means: It’s officially the holiday season in New York. It’s fitting that Macy’s heralds the beginning of our collective good cheer since R. H. Macy himself revolutionized the holiday season when he debuted the nation’s very first Christmas Windows at his store on 14th Street in 1874. Since then, all of New York’s major department stores have been turning merchandise into magic with show-stopping holiday window displays. Historically, New York’s holiday windows have deployed a combination of spectacle, science, and art, with cutting-edge technology and the talents of such luminaries as Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, and Robert Rauschenberg. From hydraulic lifts to steam-powered windows, take a look back at the history of New York’s holiday windows, the last word in high-tech, high-design holiday cheer.
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Amazon will hire 2,000 NYC employees at new Lord & Taylor building location

Photo courtesy of Lord & Taylor

August 19, 2020

Amazon will hire 2,000 NYC employees at new Lord & Taylor building location

By Dana Schulz

Despite a national shift towards working from home, Amazon announced a $1.4 billion plan to hire 3,500 employees across six major U.S. cities, a 10-percent expansion of its current corporate workforce of 35,000, according to the New York Times. This includes 2,000 employees in New York City, who will work from the e-commerce behemoth's newly acquired location at the historic Lord & Taylor building on Fifth Avenue. WeWork bought the landmarked building in 2017 for $850 million, but after a troubling few years, they sold it to Amazon in March for a reported $1.15 billion.
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Amazon will buy former Lord & Taylor flagship from WeWork for over $1B

Photo courtesy of Lord & Taylor

March 13, 2020

Amazon will buy former Lord & Taylor flagship from WeWork for over $1B

By Alexandra Alexa

After The Real Deal first learned of the possible deal in late February, the Post is now reporting that Amazon is doling out $1.15 billion to acquire Midtown's Lord & Taylor building from WeWork. Rumors that Amazon would potentially lease the building circulated last summer ahead of WeWork's planned IPO. The sale will have big implications for both companies, giving WeWork much-needed capital and representing Amazon's largest real estate acquisition to date. According to the Post, the landmark building will become Amazon's NYC headquarters and home to "several thousand employees in the coming years."
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Lord & Taylor is returning to NYC as a Soho pop-up

Photo courtesy of Lord & Taylor

December 3, 2019

Lord & Taylor is returning to NYC as a Soho pop-up

By Michelle Cohen

After closing its iconic Fifth Avenue flagship at the start of 2019, department store Lord & Taylor will be popping up again as a Manhattan shopping address, sources told Bloomberg. The department store brand, which was sold by former owner Hudson's Bay to clothing rental company Le Tote for $100 million in cash in August, is reportedly opening a 2,400-square-foot shop for just two weeks in mid-December. The pop-up shop will be located on Wooster Street in Soho–a neighborhood whose current streetscape boasts as many empty storefronts and seasonal pop-ups as high-end designer fashion shops.
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Real Estate Trends

Will Midtown’s Lord & Taylor building be back on the market after multibillion-dollar WeWork bailout?

Photo courtesy of Lord & Taylor

October 23, 2019

Will Midtown’s Lord & Taylor building be back on the market after multibillion-dollar WeWork bailout?

By Michelle Cohen

The biggest news to surface in the turbulent waters of the WeWork saga may be the multibillion-dollar bailout and takeover by Japanese company SoftBank following a failed IPO and a company valuation that skidded from a reported $48 billion to $8 billion in a matter of months. And as part of a scramble for cash, the office space sublease and coworking disruptor has been expected to divest of the Lord & Taylor building at 424 Fifth Avenue; WeWork purchased the high-profile property–the former home of the department store's flagship location–with partners Rhone Capital and Hudson’s Bay for $850 million earlier this year. But, as Crain's reports, the company may be trying to lease the 660,000-square-foot property to high-paying office tenants as a way to raise the needed funds.
Will the building be back on the market soon?

Real Estate Trends

Amazon considers leasing historic former Lord & Taylor flagship from WeWork

Photo courtesy of Lord & Taylor

July 26, 2019

Amazon considers leasing historic former Lord & Taylor flagship from WeWork

By Alexandra Alexa

Earlier this week reports circulated that Amazon might be eyeing Industry City for new office space in Brooklyn, but the company’s search isn’t limited to one borough. As the Wall Street Journal reported, Amazon is searching throughout New York City for a space large enough to accommodate its growing workforce and is in talks with WeWork to lease space in the historic Lord & Taylor flagship store, which WeWork bought earlier this year. Spokespeople for both companies declined to comment, but sources say Amazon is considering leasing a part of the building or the entire 12 stories. The Journal also noted that Amazon is looking into other locations, including the Farley Post Office across from Penn Station.
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November 19, 2018

First look at the glassy rooftop addition Bjarke Ingels is planning for the Lord & Taylor building

By Devin Gannon

As 6sqft reported earlier this month, Bjarke Ingels' restoration of the landmarked Lord & Taylor building won't alter the design of the original structure all that much. But one major update the Bjarke Ingels Group will bring to the 104-year Fifth Avenue department store includes a new roof terrace with multi-use areas and a glassy courtyard. The firm's proposal, set to be presented to the Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday, reveals a new rendering of the rooftop as well as plans to change the iconic store's signage.
Design updates here

Bjarke Ingels’ design for WeWork’s Lord & Taylor takeover shows few changes

Via Bjarke Ingels Group

November 7, 2018

Bjarke Ingels’ design for WeWork’s Lord & Taylor takeover shows few changes

By Devin Gannon

The first set of renderings of Bjarke Ingels' restoration of the landmarked Lord & Taylor building was released last month and it appears the starchitect's firm will not sway too far from the original structure's design. WeWork hired BIG last year to preserve the 104-year-old store, which will become the co-working company's new global headquarters. In its presentation on Oct. 30 to Manhattan's Community Board 5, the firm explained its plan to reconfigure the ground-floor, install canopies, replace signage, and more, as first reported by the Associated Press.
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Architecture And Design

October 1, 2018

Lord & Taylor will end its 104-year run with a massive sale and just two holiday windows

By Dana Schulz

Photo courtesy of Lord & Taylor At the beginning of next year, Lord & Taylor will close its Fifth Avenue flagship after a 104-year run. Owner Hudson’s Bay Co. sold the 676,000-square-foot Italian Renaissance building to WeWork for $850 million a year ago in an attempt to keep the department store brand afloat. With just a few months left at their storied location, Lord & Taylor will launch on Thursday a final “store closing” sale that will last through the holidays, according to the Post. And speaking of the holidays, they've also decided that instead of their normal six window displays between 38th and 39th Streets, they'll only decorate two this holiday season.
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June 5, 2018

Lord & Taylor is closing its 104-year-old Fifth Avenue flagship store

By Devin Gannon

Photo courtesy of Lord & Taylor Lord & Taylor's iconic New York City flagship store will close its doors next year, after occupying the Fifth Avenue building for 104 years. In an attempt to keep afloat last year, Hudson's Bay, owner of the department store, sold the 676,000-square-foot building for $850 million to WeWork, who planned to make the landmark its new global headquarters. While Lord & Taylor was left with roughly 150,000 square feet of space at 424 Fifth Avenue, the company struggled to maintain profitability after the turnover of the building to WeWork. Including the iconic flagship, the company will also close as many as 10 Lord & Taylor stores total (h/t Bloomberg). In a first-quarter report, Hudson's Bay said: "Exiting this iconic space reflects Lord & Taylor's increasing focus on its digital opportunity and HBC's commitment to improving profitability."
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Real Estate Trends

Lord & Taylor’s iconic Fifth Avenue building will become WeWork’s global headquarters

By Dana Schulz

With rising rents and a national shift towards e-commerce, retail vacancies in NYC have continued to rise, especially in affluent areas like the Fifth Avenue corridor. Old-school department stores, which once served as cultural destinations where shoppers would spend entire afternoons, have been hit especially hard since they occupy such large sites. One of Midtown's most iconic, the 103-year-old Lord & Taylor flagship at Fifth Avenue and 39th Street, has decided to stay afloat by selling its 676,000-square-foot Italian Renaissance building to WeWork for $850 million. The co-working company will relocate its global headquarters to the landmark, reports the Times, leaving less than a quarter of the space, roughly 150,000 square feet, to Lord & Taylor.
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April 3, 2017

A skyscraper may be built on top of Lord & Taylor’s Fifth Avenue flagship

By Devin Gannon

The 103-year-old landmarked Lord & Taylor flagship store at 424 Fifth Avenue may be getting a luxurious makeover. As the New York Post learned, the speculative project includes constructing a steel-and-glass skyscraper and redeveloping the building into an office and residential tower, keeping the 11-story department store as the base. Sources tell the Post that NYC property executive Richard Baker, who acquired Lord & Taylor in 2008, is behind the development talks. And though few details are known, "real estate insiders" point out that nearby towers rise as high as 60 stories.
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