PANDEMIC TESTS SHOPPER LOYALTY

Iconic clothing brands disappearing from retail landscape

NEW YORK » When Archie Jafree heard that Lord & Taylor filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early August, he was sad about the fate of the storied retailer with roots dating back to 1824.

Still, the 36-year-old northern Virginia resident acknowledged he hadn’t shopped there in months, preferring instead to go to Nordstrom and Zara, where he feels the customer service is better.

“It had good quality clothes,” Jafree said of Lord & Taylor, “but they hadn’t evolved with the times.”

Many shoppers like Jafree are seeing iconic labels vanish or become mere shadows of themselves, driven in part by a pandemic that has shoved them into bankruptcy but also by changing consumer habits that put less emphasis on brand names and more emphasis on experience.

So far, more than 40 retailers have filed for Chapter 11 this year, including roughly two dozen since the pandemic. That’s more than double what was seen for all of 2019.

Lord & Taylor announced on Thursday that it was liquidating its business and closing all of its remaining stores. J.C. Penney filed for Chapter 11 in May and announced plans to permanently close nearly a third of its 846 stores.

Ann Taylor parent Ascena Retail Group said it would close all of its Catherines stores, a “significant number” of Justice stores, and a select number of Ann Taylor, Loft, Lane Bryant and Lou & Grey stores. And Brooks Brothers, which will be sold to the nation’s largest mall operator Simon Property Group and licensing firm Authentic Brands Group, will shrink to about 125 stores from more than 400.

Although loyal customers bemoan their loss, the brands have been losing favor for years because they hadn’t kept up with the online buying shift and failed to stand out. The pandemic forced non-essential retailers to close this past spring in order to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, pushing them further in peril.

Before the pandemic, shoppers were faced with an abundance of choices online and were becoming less loyal to clothing brands, particularly those that were stuck in the middle. Shoppers were also focused on getting the best deals, often waiting for merchandise to go on sale before they were willing to buy — a habit sharpened during the Great Recession.

According to a March survey by McKinsey & Co, 40% of the 2,500 shoppers polled in France, United Kingdom, Germany and U.S. tried new brands or made new purchases with a new retailer; that number was 46% for U.S. shoppers.

“The ability to shop and get information online taught consumers more options. Retailers have been reliant on promotions and they’ve created a monster