Lord and Taylor: A Rose Redux

For a brief moment in time, between semesters, I worked at Lord and Taylor's Fifth Avenue flagship store. Retail gave me a great appreciation for how much fun interacting with the public can be (I had a good time, and no horror stories).

America's oldest department store (now in its 182nd year) is in the midst of one of the greatest comebacks ever in retail. It has fully modernized, and is tinkering with ideas, such as moving Fortunoffs (owned by the same parent company) into their stores, and started featuring clothing lines by several top-named American designers.

To celebrate the newfound glory, Lord and Taylor has launched the Everything's Coming Up Roses Campaign.

The woefully dull, yet iconic red rose on the white background, is now a memory. I recently stopped by to see the new and improved rose, which has made its spring debut EVERYWHERE throughout the store's interior and exterior spaces. I thought the subtle shade of orange was quite pretty, especially at this time of year.

However, the store has announced even bigger news. They are currently seeking artists to participate in an annual contest to reconfigure their rose. There is a sizeable cash prize of $10,000, and the winner will get international press exposure.