Lord & Taylor, America’s oldest department store operating since 1826, will be getting a facelift that is multi-faceted in nature according to WWD. NDRC Equity Partners, who bought Lord & Taylor from Federated Department Stores last year, has many plans in the works to bring the store back to life.
David Lipman will be breathing new life into Lord & Taylor’s advertising campaigns. He has been responsible for the success of many other brands, including Burberry and Zegna. Randall Ridless and Mancini Duffy, the architectural and design firm, will be collaborating on revamping the interior of the stores, with the Manhattan location being downsized from its weighty 11 floors to just 5 or 6. Store designers will also be developing a new Fall/Holiday branding campaign and there will be focus on the remerchandising of the products they sell and their private label. There are many fabulous events going on at their different locations to draw in the crowds (can someone say Isaac Mizrahi on 2/24?) pursuant to show that Lord & Taylor can offer exciting events for their customers and anticipate that while in-store, potential customers perception of the Lord & Taylor image over the last few years will change. Lord & Taylor considers it a rebranding and hopes it will put the once hugely popular department store back on the map.
When our culture is being overwrought by Wal-Mart’s, Target’s and the like, I think it is very refreshing to get back to basics and have those brands that were the lifeblood for so many years re-emerge stronger, bring a fresh sense of history along with it. As with Gap’s repositioning, I suspect Lord & Taylor will make their rebranding a success.
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