Hudson's Bay Archives – CULTURE MIX

June 5, 2018

by Daphne Sorenson

Lord & Taylor's The Dress Address — Lord & Taylor’s The Dress Address (Photo courtesy of Lord & Taylor)

Hudson’s Bay—the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor—is closing about 10 Lord & Taylor stores, including the landmark Manhattan location, by 2019. Meanwhile, Hudson’s Bay is selling online retailer Gilt Group to Rue La La at an undisclosed sum. Hudson’s Bay bought Gilt Groupe in 2016 for $250 million.

In a statement, Hudson’s Bay said the closures were because of “Lord & Taylor’s increasing focus on its digital opportunity and [Hudson’s Bay] commitment to improving profitability.” The Lord & Taylor location on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan opened in 1914. Hudson’s Bay sold the landmark building to WeWork for $850 million. In November 2017, Walmart announced that Lord & Taylor will have a flagship store on Walmart.com.

The Lord & Taylor closings are another example of how brick-and-mortar fashion retailers are struggling in the midst of growing trends of online shopping. In September 2017, Neiman Marcus announced that it was closing 10 of its 37 Last Call discount stores. The year 2017 also saw the demise of Bebe stores in the United States.

And things aren’t getting better. Ascena Retail Group—the parent company of Loft, Lane Bryant, Ann Taylor, Dress Barn, Catherines and Maurices—will close about 500 stores in 2018. J. Crew, Gap, Abercrombie, Bon-Ton, Crocs, Michael Kors, Guess, Macy’s, David’s Bridal, Payless and Hot Topic are also struggling financially and are expected to close several stores in 2018.

April 3, 2018

by Maria Fiero

Saks Fifth Avenue Wellery (Photo courtesy of Justin Bridges Photography)

Upscale fashion retailers Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor have been computer-hacked for North American customers’ credit cards and debit cards, according to an announcement made by Hudson’s Bay Company, the stores’ Toronto-based parent. A minimum of about 125,000 customers have had their card information released so far by JokerStash, the underground hacking group that is taking responsibility for the security breach. JokerStash says that as a result of this hacking, it plans to release and/or sell information for about 5 million cards.

Reuters reports that the security breach does not appear to be for online sales but rather for sales made at the physical stores. Hudson’s Bay says that it will not hold card owners responsible for any fraudulent charges that result from the security breach.

Hudson’s Bay released a statement that read in part: “Once we have more clarity around the facts, we will notify our customers quickly and will offer those impacted free identity protection services, including credit and web monitoring.”

Tag: Hudson’s Bay

Hudson’s Bay sells Gilt, will close several Lord & Taylor stores, including landmark Manhattan location

Saks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor hit with security breach of bank cards