Lord and Taylor is closing down its flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City completely next year and the entire location apparently will become a WeWork space.
Lord and Taylor's Canadian-based owner, Hudson's Bay, revealed last year that it would be selling the century-old Manhattan store to WeWork for $850 million but had said it would maintain a presence there, CNN reported.
The office space startup, reportedly worth $20 billion, has become one of the biggest private companies in America, so when the opportunity arose to clinch the 676,000-square foot-building it did not flinch.
WeWork's partner, Rhone Capital, will also be investing another $500 million in Hudson's Bay.
Initially, Lord and Taylor was going to continue renting space in the building to maintain a smaller store on the lower floors of the building, while the upper floors were rented out by WeWork as temporary office space for companies who need occasional or intermittent meeting spaces.
However, Hudson's Bay said this week that, "after evaluating best use scenarios for its New York City Fifth Avenue location, the company has decided not to maintain a presence at this location following the turnover of the building to WeWork," CNBC reported.
Additionally, Hudson's Bay announced intentions to close up to 10 more Lord and Taylor stores through 2019.
This comes amid waning sales, with the parent company reporting a net loss of $241 million for the fiscal first quarter, with quarterly revenue up one percent, while comparable sales were down 0.7 percent and stock down nine percent.
Sources recently said that Hudson's Bay has been working closely with investment bank PJ Solomon Co., seeking advice on potential deals regarding its department store portfolio while also consulting with AlixPartners LLP on hot to cut costs and reform its business.
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