Lord & Taylor has sold most of its famous flagship store in a move to reduce debt and attract more shoppers. Meanwhile, Whirlpool and Sears have ended their century-long relationship, as the renowned chain continues to struggle. Finally, Delphi has purchased nuTonomy as part of its advanced plans to use its technology in automated vehicles.

Lord & Taylor sells most of its flagship store

Lord & Taylor has sold most of the space in their over 100-year-old iconic flagship store in Manhattan to WeWork for $850 million, according to ABC News. Currently, 10 of the building's 11 stories are devoted to retail, but the sale will make it so that less then a quarter of the remaining space will be for the Lord & Taylor store.

The transaction, which was made by Lord & Taylor's parent company Hudson's Bay Co. on Tuesday, will see real estate startup company WeWork use the space as their headquarters. This move was made in an effort by the company to reduce debt. There is also hope that the remaining store space will benefit from younger WeWork members stopping in to shop as they come in and out of the building.

The Lord & Taylor building will continue to operate normally through next year's holiday season. A company spokeswomen confirmed to ABC that holiday displays will continue to go on this year and next year. As part of the deal with WeWork, Hudson's Bay Co. will also lease the upper floors in the company's main stores in Toronto, Vancouver, and Frankfort.

Whirlpool and Sears end longstanding relationship

Sears and Whirlpool are ending there over 100-year long business relationship. According to CBS News, Sears sent a note last week to their stores saying that Whirlpool was making demands that would have made it hard to sell its appliances at a competitive price. Their partnership ended effective immediately as of Tuesday.

This also affects various Whirlpool subsidiaries like Maytag, Jenn-Air, and KitchenAid. Sears has said that it will now sell off its remaining Whirlpool inventory.

Delphi purchases nuTonomy

Reuters reported on Tuesday that Delphi Automotive Plc will buy the self-driving car startup nuTonomy for $450 million. This move was made as Delphi looks to put automated vehicles using its technology on the roads in 2019, one year ahead of schedule.

Both companies have been testing their self-driving vehicles in Singapore, as the populous city-state has been at the forefront of promoting the technology. According to Delphi's chief technology officer, this move will double the company's team of engineers and scientists working on self-driving technology to over 200 people.
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