Lord & Taylor, one of the anchors at Westfarms, located on the West Hartford and Farmington town line, has already launched a liquidation sale.

By Ronni Newton

The Lord & Taylor store at Westfarms is among the 19 stores the retailer will be closing immediately following a declaration of Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday.

A Lord & Taylor spokesperson confirmed the news of the Westfarms closing on Tuesday.

According to a news release, Le Tote, Inc. and certain of its subsidiaries, including Lord & Taylor LLC filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Aug. 2, 2020. The company is closing targeted stores while looking for a buyer for remaining Le Tote and Lord & Taylor stores.

The closing process has begun at the 19 Lord & Taylor stores which will be closing, with “an abundant assortment of merchandise at significant price reductions,” the company said. Merchandise from brands including DKNY, Nike, Ralph Lauren, and Tommy Bahama are included in the liquidation sale.

Lord & Taylor currently has four stores in Connecticut, and three of them will be shuttered. The Stamford store is not among those listed as closing.

The Lord & Taylor that opened at Westfarms in 1980 was a relocation from West Hartford. Lord & Taylor had a store in Bishops Corner that opened in 1954 – one of the first satellite stores for a major New York City retailer.

Many longtime West Hartford residents have fond memories of visits to the original Bishops Corner store and its iconic Birdcage Restaurant.

In addition to the store at Westfarms, Lord & Taylor plans to close its Connecticut stores in Trumbull and at the Danbury Fair Mall.

Nationwide, stores are slated for closure at Mizner Park in Boca Raton, FL; Northbrook, IL; White Flint in Kensington, MD; Columbia Mall in Columbia, MD; Prudential Center in Boston, MA; Natick, MA; Twelve Oaks in Novi, MI; Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, NJ; Bay Shore Mall I Bay Shore, NY; Walden Galleria in Buffalo, NY; Crossgates Mall in Albany, NY; Destiny USA in Syracuse, NY; Eastview Mall in Rochester, NY; RidgeHill Village in Yonkers, NY; Bala Cynwyd, PA; and Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax, VA.

Updated store hours can be found in the Lord & Taylor Store Directory.

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