Lord & Taylor isn’t a name that springs to mind when it comes to retail creativity. The mainly East Coast upscale department store chain has been around since 1826. As one would expect, a successful chain would have to reinvent itself more than once during its almost 200-year-old existence. L&T was America’s oldest department store when it was purchased by a private equity firm two years ago. And it whether it could reinvent itself one last time was the question on competitors’ and analysts’ minds.

Luckily, the new owners realized what great brand equity they had in the Lord & Taylor name and decided not to sell it off store location by store location. Also by luck, Jane Elfers, the CEO since 2000, had been fighting to reposition the store for years. This was her chance, and she pulled it off, according CNNMoney.com. She dropped clothing lines that weren’t selling well, and then added brighter, fresher labels to draw in new customers. She also closed 32 underperforming stores. The results impressed the equity firm so much that it agreed to invest a half-billion dollars in renovations. The results aren’t in yet, but the investors seem to be happy with sales and consumers are coming back to see how the store reinvented itself.

It takes guts to make the kind of moves Jane Elfers made. But sometimes you have to bet the house–quite literally–to change with the times. Take a look at the Lord & Taylor website to see how the chain presents itself today. You should always be thinking about how your retail store is perceived not just by your clients, but by the larger world out there. If you haven’t reinvented it for a few years, this is a good time to consider it. With all the Internet and merchandising possibilities available to you, this is a great time to start becoming a retail legend.

P.S. For stimulating ideas on how to either reinvent your store or just keep up with the times, read this roundtable discussion with some name-brand retail experts on The Hub.