Analysts said they were not surprised by Lord & Taylor's decision. Landmark Mall is owned by General Growth Properties, which last month filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Landmark, a 44-year-old mall that was renovated in 1990, was among the company's individual properties that filed for bankruptcy protection on its own.

Gregory H. Leisch, chief executive of Delta Associates, a real estate and research firm in Alexandria, said the mall has a growing vacancy rate and is no longer a good fit for the store.

"The demographics of the trade area have changed. . . . It is no longer upscale," Leisch said. "The mall has deteriorated terribly going back before General Growth owned it."

But only a year after NRDC acquired Fortunoff, analysts such as Howard Davidowitz of Davidowitz & Associates, a national retail consulting and investment banking firm in Manhattan, are not sure where the company is headed, but several indicators point to bankruptcy as a likely option.

"If you go into Fortunoff now, there are holes in the inventory," Davidowitz said yesterday. "That means the trade is not supporting them."

He said a bankruptcy filing and liquidation of the iconic Long Island chain would not surprise him, adding that Fortunoff carries merchandise in two of the worst performing sectors of retail: jewelry and furniture.