Future of Lord & Taylor and New York & Co. Could Be In Doubt

There appears to be trouble at Saadia Group LLC.

Saadia is the parent company of multiple online e-tailers which include Lord & Taylor, Le Tote and New York & Co. The company also owns and manages more than 10 million square feet of commercial real estate across 25 properties in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, according to its LinkedIn page.

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A call to a mobile number connected to Saadia Group resulted in a recording indicating that a message could not be left because “the mailbox is full.” Moreover, the company’s website Saadia.com appears to be disabled. And the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) website indicates that the operating status of Saadia Distribution LLC, a distribution center located at 1000 Stony Battery Rd, in Lancaster, Penn., is “out-of-service” as of Dec. 30, 2023.

The FMCSA info was noted in a report on 6abc.com about customer issues with Le Tote. A deeper dive shows there’s been trouble at other fashion sites that Saadia operates.

An online search pulled up blog posts indicating problems at both Le Tote and New York & Co., either for shipping delays or inability to cancel membership for rental services. There also have been numerous complaints with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), with 1,580 logged for New York & Co. Many of the BBB complaints entered since the beginning of 2024 show that they remain unresolved.

The Le Tote site has a help center with a “how to reach us” tab. Sourcing Journal sent an e-mail, but hasn’t heard back. A reference to a Chatbot on the home page doesn’t appear, suggesting that it has been disabled.

The Lord & Taylor web page offers a code for 30 percent off sitewide, while items marked clearance are up to 90 percent off. The contact tab at the bottom of the home page, when clicked on, takes one to a page that includes a live chat. But clicking on the live chat icon does nothing, indicating that it too has been disabled.

A call to New York & Co.’s main number has one on hold for about 7 minutes before a recording begins informing the caller to leave a voicemail message. A message was left with contact info, but no response has been received.

Saadia also is on the receiving end of several lawsuits. Cushman & Wakefield reportedly filed a lawsuit last month to collect on $2.5 million owed in back rent for a sublease of office space at 275 Madison Ave. in Manhattan. In December, plaintiffs Kanisha Mitchell and Kim Mosely filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Los Angeles seeking class-action status alleging deceptive pricing on items sold on the New York & Co. website in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act. The lawsuit also alleges a violation under the California False Advertising Law. Saadia is a named defendant in the suit.

Last May, a federal district court in Manhattan ruled in favor of actress Gabrielle Union, granting a preliminary injunction barring Saadia from using the “Gabrielle Union” trademark and from selling product bearing the mark. The actress launched a fashion partnership with New York & Co. in 2017, which was expanded to Fashion to Figure. A new agreement through her business companies was inked with Saadia in 2021, giving her certain approvals and the expansion of the line to include Lord & Taylor. Union’s breach of contract suit indicated that Saadia failed to make royalty payments and other fees owed beginning in May 2022, resulting in the termination of the agreement.

Saadia acquired the bankrupt RTW Retailwinds Inc.‘s e-commerce businesses in October 2020 for $40 million, which included New York & Co. and the plus-size fashion site Fashion to Figure. Le Tote, founded in 2012, acquired Lord & Taylor for $100 million in 2019, but the parent firm ended up in bankruptcy in August 2020. In November 2020, Saadia closed on its acquisition of the intellectual property and e-commerce assets of Le Tote and Lord & Taylor for $12 million. The digitally native Le Tote continued to operate during bankruptcy proceedings, while Saadia in April 2021 relaunched Lord & Taylor as a digital business. Saadia in Sept. 2021 also acquired luxury footwear brand Aquatalia for a reported $23 million when its former parent Global Brands Group entered bankruptcy proceedings.

Executives at Saadia Group could not be reached for comment.