Lord & Taylor was started as a dry goods store in 1826, and is one of the oldest department stores in America. Its founders were Samuel Lord and George Washington Taylor. The store grew, moving to increasingly larger stores on Broadway and by 1850 had begun manufacturing some of the merchandise offered in the store. They moved to Fifth Avenue in 1914.
In 1932, Lord & Taylor VP Dorothy Shaver became one of the first to promote the fashions of American designers by name. Before this time, many of the best US designers were anonymous, as many preferred the prestige brought by a French frock. As a result of Lord & Taylor ads, names like Elizabeth Hawes and Muriel King became well known.
In 1986, Lord & Taylor was bought by the May department store chain. As a cost-cutting measure, May closed over thirty Lord & Taylor stores. At its height, there were 86 stores in the Lord & Taylor chain.
Written by Lizzie Bramlett, fuzzylizzie.com
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