Journalists gather at the gate of the flagship store of the famous department store chain Lord & Taylor on Fifth avenue in Manhattan, New York, the United States, Jan. 2, 2019. The famous department store chain Lord & Taylor officially closed its flagship store on Fifth avenue in Manhattan, New York City. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

NEW YORK, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- The famous department store chain Lord & Taylor officially closed its flagship store on Fifth avenue in Manhattan, New York City.

The 11-storey building was a landmark on New York's most prestigious shopping area for over a century, boasting about its animated holiday windows and fine selection of jewelries and clothing and attracting city dwellers and tourists alike.

Retail chains have shrunk their footprint in the city over the past year, with a sharp decline in clothing stores and fast food shops, showed a report released by a U.S. think tank on Wednesday.

The number of local chain-store locations fell by 27, or 0.3 percent, to 7,849 in 2018, according to the annual study by Center for an Urban Future, which tracks 331 national retailers with at least two locations in New York and at least one outside the city.

The findings marked the first year-over-year decline in the number of chain store locations since the study began 11 years ago.

"It's a big change. In the 11 years we've been doing this annual report, we've never before seen a year-over-year drop in the number of chain stores," said Jonathan Bowles, executive director of the center.

Before closing, the flagship store went through months of clearance blowout sale with evening dresses that once sold for over 1,000 U.S. dollars selling at 15.99 dollars and jeans at 6.99 dollars.

The building was sold to WeWork, a New York-headquartered work-space leasing company, for more than 850 million dollars.

The brand is owned by Canada's Hudson's Bay Company.