Search
 

Lord & Taylor Downsizes

ST. LOUIS-May is nearly finished with its closures of a number of Lord & Taylor stores, but there's a sticking point in Denver.

By Dees Stribling | Updated on January 04, 2005

ST. LOUIS-Brand restructuring can be a long and occasionally bumpy road. In the summer of 2003, the May Department Stores Co., which owns numerous retail brands across the company, unveiled plans to close 32 of its underperforming Lord & Taylor stores, or nearly half, and refocus the remaining ones as upscale fashion retailers, as opposed to department stores. At the beginning of 2005, the company says that it has completed arrangements to close 25 of these 32 stores.

However, in at least one case, the process has gotten a little sticky, with May now involved in a legal dispute with Michigan-based mall owner Taubman Centers Inc. over the fate of a Lord & Taylor in metro Denver. May filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado against Taubman last fall, after the REIT declined to let May replace its Lord & Taylor in the Cherry Creek Shopping Center with a Foley’s Men’s and Home store.

Neither party, including their Denver-based attorneys, is commenting for publication about the dispute, but the essence of the dust-up isn’t too difficult to discern. Taubman feels that any replacement for Lord & Taylor needs to be another department store, preferably another upscale store. May counters that a Foley’s Men’s and Home store is a perfectly acceptable choice for the spot, and that it is a department store, as defined by its reciprocal easement agreement with Taubman.

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.

Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Unlimited access to GlobeSt and other free ALM publications
  • Access to 15 years of GlobeSt archives
  • Your choice of GlobeSt digital newsletters and over 70 others from popular sister publications
  • 1 free article* every 30 days across the ALM subscription network
  • Exclusive discounts on ALM events and publications

*May exclude premium content
Already have an account?

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

GlobeSt

Join GlobeSt

Don't miss crucial news and insights you need to make informed commercial real estate decisions. Join GlobeSt.com now!

  • Free unlimited access to GlobeSt.com's trusted and independent team of experts who provide commercial real estate owners, investors, developers, brokers and finance professionals with comprehensive coverage, analysis and best practices necessary to innovate and build business.
  • Exclusive discounts on ALM and GlobeSt events.
  • Access to other award-winning ALM websites including ThinkAdvisor.com and Law.com.

Already have an account? Sign In Now
Join GlobeSt

Copyright © 2024 ALM Global, LLC. All Rights Reserved.