New York & Company, Inc. (NY&C) is an
e-commerce
E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...
workwear
Workwear is clothing worn for work, especially work that involves manual labour. Often those employed within trade industries elect to be outfitted in workwear because it is built to provide durability and safety.
The workwear clothing industr ...
retailer for women. New York & Company apparel and accessories are sold exclusively through their digital store.
From 1918 to 1992, the company was known as Lerner Shops. Its name was then changed to Lerner New York and then to New York & Company. The company began retailing exclusively through its digital store in 2020.
Company history
Lerner Shops

The company started as Lorraine Shops in 1917.
Lerner Shops was founded in 1918 by brothers Samuel A. Lerner, Joseph J. Lerner, and Michael Lerner, and Harold M. Lane in New York City. Joseph was the father of lyricist
Alan Jay Lerner
Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, and later Burton Lane, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre bot ...
. The first Lerner Shops store was in New York City; 18 more shops opened later that year.
The company was then organized under Lerner Stores Corporation. By 1920, 23 Lerner Shops were in operation. Within ten years, that figure grew to 160 units in 37 states.
In 1948, the company was said to have just under 200 stores nationwide.
In 1963,
McCrory Corporation acquired a significant share in the company. Lerner was the country's largest chain of women's and children's apparel shops by 1965. McCrory came to acquire 60% of Lerner, officially buying the company in 1973. By 1978, Lerner Shops had 470 retail locations.
By August 1981, the company had 717 stores and sales of $686 million.
Lerner was operating nearly 800 stores with $700 million in annual sales by 1985. In February,
Limited Brands announced it would buy Lerner Stores from McCrory's parent company, the Rapid-American Corporation, for $260 million. Many of the top executives of Lerner were dismissed and
Leslie Wexner, chairman and chief executive of
The Limited
The Limited is an American clothing brand sold exclusively through Belk. The Limited began with operating retail stores between the early 1960s and the late 2010s. In 2017, it became a brand owned by the private equity firm Sycamore Partners.
Hi ...
, assumed the posts of chairman and chief executive for the brand. Wexner then cancelled up to $100 million in orders that had been made under the previous management.
New York & Company
Lerner Shops became known as Lerner New York in the early 1990s. By 1993, The Limited Inc. found that many of its brands were competing against each other. The company announced it would close 100 of its more than 900 Lerner New York locations. It then modernized it's line of clothing and introduced the New York & Company label. By the end of the decade, it had dropped the Lerner name and became New York & Company.
In 2002, Limited Brands sold New York & Company to
Bear Stearns Merchant Banking
Irving Place Capital, formerly known as Bear Stearns Merchant Banking (BSMB), is an American private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in middle-market companies in the industrial, packaging, consumer and reta ...
, making it an independent company.
It went public in 2004 and opened a new flagship store New York City at 58th Street and Lexington Avenue. The company launched an ecommerce website in 2006.
In 2012, the company launched NY&C Beauty, a beauty line including fragrance, lip, and nail products. In 2013, the company launched an exclusive collection designed in collaboration with actress Eva Mendes.
The company began pushing into the outlet space during the 2010s. By the end of 2015, 82 of 490 stores were outlet stores. Another 50 were slated for conversion in the first quarter of 2016, with a fourth of the company's stores expected to by outlets by the end of the year.
In 2016, CEO Gregory Scott and New York & Comp ny were an episode of
Undercover Boss
''Undercover Boss'' is a reality television series franchise created by Stephen Lambert and produced in many countries. It originated in 2009 on the British Channel 4. The show’s format features the experiences of senior executives working u ...
.
By 2017, New York & Company had 466 retail stores in the U.S. after closing 11 flagship stores and six other stores at the end of the previous year.
Gabrielle Union
Gabrielle Monique Union-Wade ( Union; born October 29, 1972) is an American actress. Her career began in the 1990s, when she made dozens of appearances on television sitcoms, prior to landing supporting roles in 1999 teen films '' She's All That ...
launched her own collection in 2017. In November, the company announced it had acquired plus-size retailer
Fashion to Figure for $1.4 million.
In August 2018, the company opened its largest flagship store to date, an 18,000-sq.-ft, two-level store on State Street in Downtown Chicago. That month,
Kate Hudson
Kate Garry Hudson (born April 19, 1979) is an American actress and singer. Born to singer Bill Hudson (singer), Bill Hudson and actress Goldie Hawn, Hudson made her film debut in the 1998 drama ''Desert Blue'', which was followed by supporting ...
became an ambassador to the Soho Jeans line and would gain her own collection with New York & Company.
RTW Retailwinds, bankruptcy, and sale
In September 2018, New York & Co., Inc. rebranded as RTW Retailwinds in an effort to expand its portfolio and focus on ecommerce. The new name took affect in November, with the company changing its ticker symbol to RTW on the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
. In 2019, Hudson's Happy X Nature collection launched.
It debuted the Uncommon Sense lingerie brand in April, but by August, announced it would exit the business. At the end of the year, RTW posted an operating loss of nearly $62 million and announced it would close 30 stores (including 19 NY&C locations).
After a disappointing holiday season, RTW received warning from the New York Stock Exchange in January 2020 that its stock was in danger of being delisted. In February 2020,
S&P Global Market Intelligence named RTW it's second most vulnerable retailer, meaning it was in danger of defaulting. The company planned to close more stores and focus on ecommerce, but the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
proved financially devastating to the business. In March 2020, the company named a new CEO, then all stores were closed and nearly all sales associates were furloughed. However, the CEO and four board members resigned just weeks later. In May, 190 corporate and 13 district managers were permanently terminated.
RTW filed for bankruptcy in July 2020, with plans to close most, if not all, physical locations. In August, the company agreed to sell its assets, including New York & Company, Fashion to Figure, and it's rental subscription business, to Sunrise Brands LLC $20 million. RTW ultimately sold to Saadia Group in September, following a bankruptcy auction.
In August 2021, New York & Company, under Saadia Group, introduced its first menswear collection. Gabrielle Union relaunched her fashion line in September, releasing it for NY&C,
Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor was an American department store chain founded in 1826 by Samuel Lord. It had 86 full-line stores in the Northeastern United States at its peak in the 2000s, and 38 locations at the time of its liquidation in 2021. The Lord & Tay ...
, and Fashion to Figure.
However, by March 1, 2024, Saadia Group had effectively shut down after defaulting on a $45 million loan. Its creditor, White Oak Commercial Finance, was granted control over the company's assets. New York & Company is now controlled by ADJHA NY&Co. LLC.
Celebrity advertisements
Celebrities who have appeared in advertisements for New York & Company include
Eva Longoria
Eva Jacqueline Longoria Bastón ( Longoria; born March 15, 1975) is an American actress, producer, director, and businesswoman. After several guest roles on television, she became recognized for her portrayal of Isabella Braña on the CBS day ...
,
Brooke Shields
Brooke Christa Shields (born May 31, 1965) is an American actress. A child model starting at the age of 11 months, Shields gained widespread notoriety at age 12 for her leading role in Louis Malle's film ''Pretty Baby (1978 film), Pretty Baby ...
,
Iman,
Cindy Crawford
Cynthia Ann Crawford (born February 20, 1966) is an American model. During the 1980s and 1990s, she was among the most popular supermodels and a ubiquitous presence on magazine covers and runways, as well as fashion campaigns. She subsequently ...
,
Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981), also known by her nickname J.Hud, is an American singer, actress, producer, and talk show host. Having received List of awards and nominations received by Jennifer Hudson, numerous accolades for ...
,
Maria Menounos
Maria Menounos ( ; ; born June 8, 1978) is an American and Greek television host. She has hosted ''Extra'' and ''E! News''; she was a TV correspondent for '' Today'', ''Access Hollywood'', and co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athen ...
,
Ellen Pompeo
Ellen Kathleen Pompeo (; born November 10, 1969) is an American actress. One of the world's highest-paid actors since 2017, she has made multiple appearances on ''Forbes'' year-end lists. Her accolades include a Screen Actors Guild Award and a ...
,
Patrick Dempsey
Patrick Galen Dempsey (born January 13, 1966) is an American actor and racing driver best known for playing neurosurgeon Derek Shepherd in ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2005–15; 2020–21). He is also known for his leading man romantic film roles, such ...
,
Eva Mendes, Gabrielle Union, and Kate Hudson.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:New York and Company
Clothing retailers of the United States
American companies established in 1918
Clothing companies established in 1918
Retail companies established in 1918
Clothing brands of the United States
Companies based in New York City
Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange
1918 establishments in New York City
1985 mergers and acquisitions
2004 initial public offerings
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020