Lord & Taylor, the oldest department store in America at almost 200 years old, has experienced a precipitous fall from glory. In 2019, it was acquired by fashion rental company Le Tote for $75 million, and then Sandia Group bought the brand out of bankruptcy court in 2021 for $12 million. With no physical stores left and an urgent need to capture the attention of younger customers, Sandia completely deflated what was left of the brand by creating the most generic of sans serif logos.
Now Regal Brands owns the brand and has resurrected the script logo. Despite the fact that many younger people can’t read cursive anymore, brand managers are counting peoples’ ability to “read” shapes and still appreciate the store’s heritage.
The iconic script logo has been remade many times over the years. For a full history, see https://logos.fandom.com/wiki/Lord_%26_Taylor