Hudson's Bay ($TSX:HBC) announced that it is looking to sell or merge — or at least "pursue strategic alternatives" for — Lord + Taylor (or Lord & Taylor), which is part of its extensive luxury department portfolio. Given that the company also owns its namesake retail outlets, Saks 5th Avenue, and Galeria Kaufhof among others, it seems that the brand had a proximity problem while placed alongside its luxury department store sisters/competitors.
When looking at how its brand retail footprint is laid out, Lord + Taylor's challenge in a turbulent retail environment becomes clear: only three stores out its portfolio are more than 20 miles away from a sister store or from a Saks 5th Avenue. This is an emerging trend we've seen several times during the retail apocalypse, including with struggling rival J.C. Penney.
Below is every store location that has a proximity distance of over 10 miles:
Lord & Taylor Location Name |
Street |
City |
State |
Nearest Store Name #1 |
Nearest Distance (Miles) |
Nearest Store Street #1 |
Nearest Store City #1 |
Nearest Store State #1 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Crossgates Mall |
1 Crossgates Mall Rd |
Albany |
NY |
Westfarms Mall |
87.105 |
400 West Farms Mall |
Farmington |
CT |
East View Mall |
7979 Pittsford Victor Rd |
Victor |
NY |
Destiny USA |
64.260 |
9629 Destiny USA Drive |
Syracuse |
NY |
Westfarms Mall |
400 West Farms Mall |
Farmington |
CT |
CLINTON CROSSING PREMIUM OUTLETS |
31.935 |
20 KILLINGWORTH TURNPIKE, SUITE 600 |
CLINTON |
CT |
Quakerbridge Mall |
Route 1 & Quakerbridge Road |
Lawrenceville |
NJ |
Freehold Raceway Mall |
19.936 |
3710 Highway 9 Suite 1500 |
Freehold |
NJ |
Walden Galleria |
8 Walden Galleria |
Cheektowaga |
NY |
THE FASHION OUTLETS OF NIAGARA FALLS |
17.086 |
1845 FASHION OUTLETS BLVD |
NIAGARA FALLS |
NY |
Trumbull Shopping Park |
5065 Main Street |
Tumbull |
CT |
Danbury |
16.827 |
7 Backus Avenue |
Danbury |
CT |
Danbury |
7 Backus Avenue |
Danbury |
CT |
Trumbull Shopping Park |
16.827 |
5065 Main Street |
Tumbull |
CT |
Bridgewater Commons |
400 Commons Way |
Bridgewater |
NJ |
Westfield |
16.294 |
609 North Avenue W. |
Westfield |
NJ |
Natick Mall |
1245 Worcester Road |
Natick |
MA |
BOSTON |
15.747 |
800 BOYLSTON STREET |
BOSTON |
MA |
Annapolis Mall |
1600 Annapolis Mall Road |
Annapolis |
MD |
ARUNDEL MILLS |
15.178 |
7000 ARUNDEL MILLS CIRCLE, SUITE E1 |
HANOVER |
MD |
Rockingham Park |
99 Rockingham Park Boulevard |
Salem |
NH |
MERRIMACK PREMIUM OUTLETS |
14.262 |
80 PREMIUM OUTLETS BOULEVARD |
MERRIMACK |
NH |
Rockaway Townsquare |
301 Mount Hope Road |
Rockaway |
NJ |
Livingston Mall |
13.451 |
111 Eisenhower Parkway |
Livingston |
NJ |
Freehold Raceway Mall |
3710 Highway 9 Suite 1500 |
Freehold |
NJ |
SHREWSBURY PLAZA |
12.999 |
260 SHREWSBURY PLAZA |
SHREWSBURY |
NJ |
Lakeside Mall |
14250 Lakeside Circle |
Sterling Heights |
MI |
TROY - SOMERSET COLLECTION |
11.058 |
2901 WEST BIG BEAVER ROAD |
TROY |
MI |
While some of these stores are reasonably distant from each other, there were historical proximity problems that the brand faced on the East Coast. For example, below are the locations of two Lord + Taylor locations that existed on Long Island in the popular Garden City/Westbury shopping area.
Although Nassau County is home to over a million people, sticking two department stores that offer the same products within two miles of each other was too much. Especially because Lord + Taylor's Westbury location was in the failing Source Mall and was its largest tenant.
With Hudson's Bay looking to potentially trim its holdings, it — and its competitors — might want to look at proximity data to see why it is floundering during the retail apocalypse (although they probably already have when evaluating the brand's longevity). Sadly, Lord + Taylor's hard times took a bit of history out of New York as well, for its flagship store on Fifth Avenue, a historical landmark as of 2007, shut its doors in early 2019 after it partially sold out to make it WeWork office space.