Lord & Taylor launching off-price store

Beginning next month, Lord & Taylor will be launching their first off-price store. For those who might be confused by the idea of what off-price is, think of how Saks Fifth Avenue has Off 5th. It is essentially a discount chain for past seasons designs.

Their new off-price chain titled "Find @ Lord & Taylor" will open November 19 in Paramus, NJ at 180 Route 4 East as reported by WWD. Lord & Taylor's parent company Hudson's Bay Co. is hoping to have ten Find @ Lord & Taylor stores open by the end of 2016.

“As you know, our mission is to modernize and contemporize the Lord & Taylor brand. We believe Find @ Lord & Taylor will lift it up. It won’t take away from it. It will help make it even more relevant,” Jerry Storch, chief executive officer of Hudson’s Bay Co., said to WWD.

The off-price chain is all the rage nowadays. Saks Fifth Avenue is aggressively expanding their Off 5th chain, and Nordstrom Rack is now surpassing Nordstrom in terms of the number of stores operated, off-price and outlet chains are a very successful business endeavor nowadays.

Lord & Taylor to launch Find @ Lord & Taylor

The new Find @ Lord & Taylor stores are expected to average around 30,000 square feet each. In-season and on-trend merchandise will be 70 percent off regular retail store prices. The four Lord & Taylor outlets are expected to be converted to Find @ Lord & Taylor's next year.

The competition in the off-price market is getting tough. Retailers like TJ Maxx, Ross, and Bloomingdale's Outlets focusing on expansion efforts. Macy's has also introduced their off-price chain, and once popular Filene's basement will be returning as an e-tailer.

Find @ Lord & Taylor will be leveraging the Saks Off 5th team for buying and merchandising. Despite the use of Saks Off 5th's buying team, the new off-price retail chain will be positioned somewhere between TJ Maxx and Nordstrom rack, versus the luxury price points at Saks Off 5th.

Find will retain the purple and white color theme of Lord & Taylor stores. The retail plan includes positioning Find next to Lord & Taylor stores. For example, the first Paramus, N.J. location is only a few miles away from two Lord & Taylor stores also located in Paramus.

Find seems to be Lord & Taylor's way of bringing in the millennial customer. That was Macy's idea behind the launch of their off-price store, and even Nordstrom's idea behind the expansion of Nordstrom Rack. The plan is once these customers are older and more financially well off, they will begin shopping at their full-priced chains.

Whether or not this strategy will work will only be seen many years down the road, but, for now, it is helping companies bring in great business. In June, Hudson's Bay Co. reported a 10.3 percent increase in Saks Off 5th same store sales. Off-price designer products are in demand, there is no doubt about that.