Holiday windows at the big department stores have long been one of the big holiday-season attractions for New Yorkers and visitors alike, with lavish and often-animated displays showing off the store's spirit, if not always its merchandise.
But this year's displays also mark a sad moment: Lord and Taylor's flagship Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan, by most accounts the store that started the whole tradition over 100 years ago, is closing; a few days after New Year's it will be gone, although stores in suburban malls will survive.
Inside the store, the feel of too-high-class-for-me, is gone, as the last shoppers chase down the last bargains the store has to offer—including not Gucci merchandise, but the display case it was sold from.
Even this year's windows are disappointing. Most of the windows are plastered over with clearance posters, and the few that have holiday displays are just big LED screens with fairly generic holiday cartoons.
It's a sad farewell for those of us who remember, and took our kids to see, the elaborate displays of past years, like those below.
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