WALMART MAY TEAM UP WITH LORD & TAYLOR TO TAKE ON AMAZON

Arkansas-based big-box discount store Walmart is close to landing a deal to give department store Lord & Taylor dedicated space on its website according to the Wall Street Journal.

According to the Journal report, which cited a person familiar with the matter, the deal would include a plan to sell the department store’s goods in a dedicated area on Walmart.com, creating an “online mall” full of high-end designer brands for shoppers to browse. Other brands in the mall could include men’s clothing store Bonobos and online retailer Jet.com, both of which were part of a shopping spree of e-commerce companies by Walmart in the last 15 months.

Lord & Taylor will continue to operate its own website, but shoppers at lordandtaylor.com will be able to pick up and return items at Walmart’s 4,700 U.S. retail stores, the Journal reported.

The move would also signify a major rethink by brands like Lord & Taylor that are trying to compete with Amazon online as store traffic sags. Previously reluctant to team up with Walmart due to its heavy-discounting reputation, the brands are now seeming to take on a “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” approach.

Walmart is now hoping to be seen as “the clear number two in the space,” reported the Journal.