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This Startup Bought Lord & Taylor. Can It Change the Way We Shop?

Online clothing-rental startup Le Tote recently bought Lord & Taylor, and has ambitious plans to reinvent its business. Welcome to the craziest bet in retail.

By Andrew Leonard

Michael Glenwood

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

This year did not start well for brick-and-mortar chains.

In January, Pier 1 Imports announced it was closing up to 450 stores. Later that month, two other prominent retail brands — the high-end audio manufacturer Bose and the paper-goods chain Papyrus — reported their own significant closures. And yet, on the same day that Macy's announced it was laying off 2,000 workers and closing 125 stores, I was arriving at the San Francisco offices of a startup called Le Tote…where a very different kind of thinking was going on.

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