HBC has found a way to put former Lord & Taylor stores to good use.
Joining forces with Hilco Global and Gordon Brothers, the department store company and its partners are opening limited-time, off-price concept stores at spaces vacated by Lord & Taylor in the wake of its bankruptcy.
Shopper’s Find, as the new retail concept is called, takes the form of a department store touting 60 percent off women’s, men’s and children’s apparel, fine jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances, handbags, footwear, designer furs and accessories, home décor, rugs, furniture, small appliances and mattresses, among other categories.
Only accepting major credit cards and debit cards, two stores have opened in Massachusetts’ Natick Mall, 4 miles from a Marshalls location, and in northern New Jersey’s Willowbrook Mall, just a 7-mile ride from a TJ Maxx store. The off-price concept could give channel leaders like Burlington, Ross and their rivals a run for their money.
In a statement, Hilco and Gordon Brothers, known for working with distressed retailers, said Shopper’s Find products are sourced from excess inventory, in addition to out-of-season merchandise, overstock goods, clearance merchandise and other avenues.
While the duo is working directly with manufacturers and wholesalers to find the best prices for the merchandise brought in each week, the availability of what’s offered in each store should be considered a “one-time opportunity” so long as supplies last, the pair said.
HBC, formerly Hudson’s Bay Co. before it was taken private, inked a deal to sell Lord & Taylor to apparel-subscription firm Le Tote for $100 million in August 2019, though the latter two eventually filed for bankruptcy in August last year. The deal gave Le Tote the brand and related intellectual property assets, plus the operations of 38 Lord & Taylor stores. The obligation for rent for the 38 remained the responsibility of HBC for a three-year period after the deal closed. The two were to re-evaluate the store network this year, and the stores that HBC owns remain under its purview.