Last week, Saks Global, the parent company of Neiman Marcus, announced that its chief executive is stepping down as the company faces financial troubles. The luxury retailer missed a $100 million interest payment due at the end of December.
Things look bleak for Saks, and that has set us worrying again about our beloved downtown Neiman Marcus.
This newspaper reported that the store will remain open past the holiday season and into 2026 as conversations about a reimagined downtown Neiman’s location continue to play out. We read Saks’ statement as very open-ended and non-committal, so what happens next is anyone’s guess.
The timing is wretched. Earlier this week, we got the news that AT&T is leaving downtown. Neiman’s is another data point in a tale of struggle. Although the retailer draws a fraction of the bodies downtown each day that AT&T does, it’s a symbolic anchor of the downtown of old. The location at the corner of Main Street and Ervay Street opened in 1914, and for over a century has operated as Neiman’s flagship store.
Opinion
Neiman’s is one of downtown’s remaining gems. Its storefront is inviting, especially during the holidays when its festive window displays go up. Compared with nearby buildings, some vacant or underused, the department store is pleasant to walk past, even if you never buy anything at the shiny counters inside or enjoy a popover in the Zodiac Room. If you have visitors from out of town, it’s a destination you might want to bring them to.
When we last wrote about the downtown retailer, its looming closure turned out to be less about city leadership and more of a business decision disguised as a lease dispute. Last-minute negotiations spared the store at least for a little while.
To avoid another 11th-hour save, city leaders should be having discussions now about the retailer’s future. But there’s only so much the city can do. Neiman’s fate downtown ultimately rests with a company that is now run by executives driven less by a commitment to luxury retail than by short-term profit.
We still believe there is an opportunity for Neiman’s. But it will require the city to cast and embrace a bold vision for downtown that is about renewal and prosperity.
If downtown were a beautiful place and a joy to spend time in, there wouldn’t be any more begging for stores like Neiman’s to stay. They would come in droves.