For years, Costco has enjoyed one major advantage other than its low prices. The company has also benefited from the strength of its private-label brand.
Costco’s Kirkland Signature has evolved from a store brand into a destination brand. These days, Costco members seek out everything from apparel and groceries to household essentials simply because they trust the Kirkland name.
Now, the Lord & Taylor department-store brand is hoping a similar strategy can help fuel its own comeback.
The nearly 200-year-old retailer, which filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and shuttered its remaining stores the following year, has introduced the Heritage Collection, a new private-label apparel line that marks the latest step in its revival under owner Regal Brands Global.
The collection includes men’s and women’s apparel priced from roughly $100 to $1,000 and is currently available through the company’s online store.
Company executives have also suggested that the brand could eventually expand into additional categories and even wholesale distribution.
Private labels can be a powerful competitive advantage
Private labels have become one of retail’s most effective growth strategies because they give companies something competitors can’t easily copy.
Unlike national brands that pop up across dozens of retailers, exclusive store brands create differentiation. If customers want a particular product, they have to buy it from that retailer.
Costco is perhaps the best-known example. Its Kirkland Signature label has developed a loyal following that extends well beyond warehouse members looking for bargains.
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The brand has become synonymous with quality, helping Costco strengthen customer loyalty while generating higher profit margins than many national brands.
“Above all else, Kirkland Signature is trusted,” retail industry expert Dave Wendland told Retail Wire.
Traditional department stores, by comparison, have struggled to create the same level of recognition around their own exclusive merchandise. Many have spent years relying heavily on third-party fashion labels, leaving them vulnerable when those brands became available through competing retailers or online marketplaces.
For Lord & Taylor, rebuilding around a proprietary collection could help give shoppers a reason to stay loyal instead of browsing countless competitors selling similar products.
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Lord & Taylor makes calculated move after years of uncertainty
Lord & Taylor’s path back has been anything but straightforward. The retailer entered bankruptcy in 2020 before liquidating its physical stores and later reemerging as an online-only business under new ownership, NPR reported.
Regal Brands Global acquired the brand in late 2024, according to Retail Dive, and has been working to restore its identity while honoring its long history.
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The Heritage Collection also coincides with the company’s 200th anniversary and is intended to become more than a one-time fashion launch. Executives have said the label could eventually expand into additional apparel categories.
That broader vision makes the strategy particularly crucial. Rather than trying to recreate the department-store model that struggled before bankruptcy, Lord & Taylor appears to be investing in an asset it can fully control — its own brand.
“Private label has always been in Lord & Taylor’s DNA — it’s just never been something we made noise about,” Lord & Taylor Chief Strategy Officer Sina Yenel said to Retail Dive.
Whether consumers ultimately embrace the collection remains to be seen. But exclusive merchandise typically offers retailers greater pricing flexibility and stronger margins than simply reselling national brands.
For a retailer rebuilding after financial distress, those advantages could prove especially valuable.
Of course, it may take time for Lord & Taylor to strengthen customer loyalty.
Costco, after all, didn’t build its Kirkland Signature brand overnight. The warehouse retailer spent years establishing a reputation for quality and consistency before the brand became one of retail’s biggest success stories.
Lord & Taylor faces a much steeper climb. The company no longer has a nationwide department store footprint, and today’s consumers have far more shopping options than they did during the retailer’s heyday.
Still, betting on an exclusive brand may be one of the smartest moves available to a retailer trying to redefine itself after years of financial struggles.
Maurie Backman owns shares of Costco.
