Lord & Taylor Closing Old Orchard Store Permanently

SKOKIE, IL — Lord & Taylor is permanently closing its Old Orchard location and laying off 119 employees. Workers were notified last month that they would be laid off in April, according to a state jobs report. Lord & Taylor is a subsidiary of Toronto-based Hudson's Bay, or HBC, which also owns Saks Fifth Avenue and Gilt Groupe. The brand will still operate its three other Chicago area locations in Northbrook Court, Oakbrook Center and Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg.

The layoffs were disclosed in a monthly report from the Illinois Department of Commerce detailing November's required warnings of mass layoffs or plant closures and first reported by Crain's Chicago Business.

"Through the regular course of business, we continually evaluate store performance and, from time to time, may determine it necessary to close a store," HBC said in a statement. "These decisions are never easy, but they are prudent for the Company and we are committed to offering support and assistance to our team affected by the closing."

Over the summer, the company had reportedly been in talks to buy Neiman Marcus as well, but declining sales led it to announce the elimination of 2,000 jobs in June.

The company shuttered its Michigan Avenue location in 2007 and in September sold its Manhattan flagship store for $850 million.

On a Wednesday earning call, Crain's reported Hudson Bay's chief financial officer said online sales have improved in the most recent quarter. However, HBC's overall retail sales declined by 4.2 percent in the third quarter.

CFO Ed Record said the company was "behind where we need to be, but we feel like we're catching up," when it comes to integrating its online and physical sales and shifting its portfolio of locations.

According to HBC, all of the store associates at the Old Orchard location were offered transfer opportunities where possible.

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_{Top photo: A Lord & Taylor department store in October 2017 | AP Photo | Julio Cortez}