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.

This year did not start well forbrick-and-mortarchains.

In January, Pier 1 Imports announced it was closing up to 450 stores. Later that month, two other prominentretailbrands — 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 astartupcalledLe Tote…where a very different kind of thinking was going on.