The Quaker Bridge Mall is losing the second of its four anchor stores, following the announcement that the Lord & Taylor department store is going out of business.
Le Tote, Inc., which owns Lord & Taylor, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Aug. 2. The company bought the department store chain from Hudson’s Bay Co.
Signs posted at the entrances to Lord & Taylor at the Quaker Bridge Mall said it is having a store closing sale, and that it is no longer accepting returns or exchanges from other Lord & Taylor stores. Beginning Sept. 25, it will no longer accept online returns.
Lord & Taylor is one of four anchor stores at the Quaker Bridge Mall, alongside of Sears Roebuck & Co., JC Penney and Macy’s. Sears closed in 2018, leaving the three department stores to anchor the nearly 1.1 million-square-foot regional shopping mall.
The Lord & Taylor department store chain has changed hands several times since it was founded as a dry goods store in Manhattan in 1826 by Samuel Lord and George Washington Taylor, according to www.hbcheritage.ca, the website of its former owner, Hudson’s Bay Co.
Municipal Manager Kevin Nerwinski said the news that Lord & Taylor is closing its store at the Quaker Bridge Mall is “extremely disappointing.”
“Our community depends on a healthy and fully operational mall, not only for the jobs and great shopping experience it provides our residents, but also because the mall is a major commercial tax ratable that provides a significant contribution to our municipal budget. It’s a fact,” Nerwinski said.
The store at the Quaker Bridge Mall is owned by Quaker Bridge Mall LLC, which is based in Indianapolis. The space was formerly occupied by the defunct Hahne’s & Co. department store chain, and converted into a Lord & Taylor store by May Department Stores, which is one of many former owners of Lord & Taylor.
The 154,372-square-foot building that houses Lord & Taylor was built in the late 1970s.
The property is assessed at $14.6 million. It generated $423,692 in real estate taxes for 2020, divided among Lawrence Township, the Lawrence Township Public Schools and Mercer County.
