Lord & Taylor wants to expand Manhasset store

Lord & Taylor is looking to expand its Manhasset store.

The Town of North Hempstead last night was expected to schedule a public hearing for the department store chain's application to add 37,150 square feet to its existing building. The tentative date for the hearing is Jan. 25, according to the town's meeting agenda.

"We are exploring opportunities to expand that store," said Lori Rhodes, a spokeswoman for Manhattan-based Lord & Taylor, which is owned by NRDC Equity Partners Llc. She added, "We would prefer to wait to comment until the outcome of the January meeting."

The upscale department store chain plans to construct the addition on part of its parking lot, dislocating 72 parking spaces, according to the town agenda. Some of those spots will be relocated. The rear part of the extension will have two levels.

The Manhasset location was the department store's first branch and opened in 1941, according to Women's Wear Daily. The existing Manhasset store is a three-story, 125,600 square-foot structure.

The proposed expansion in Manhasset is part of a long-term, methodical process initiated when the chain was purchased by NRDC Equity Partners in 2006, said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for the NPD Group, a Port Washington market research firm.

"Lord & Taylor actually is making a big push in the last few months, renovating [the Manhattan flagship store], looking at renovating some other stores, expanding their platform and even possibly expanding into some new locations," Cohen said. "So they've moved into growth mode now that they've kind of figured out that the things they put in play - new brands and new merchandising and new target marketing - have worked."