The Neiman Marcus flagship store is seen from Commerce and Ervay Street in Downtown Dallas on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
In the end, downtown’s Neiman Marcus wasn’t saved. The shop at 1618 Main Street is in its final hours.
Nearly two years ago, Dallas residents navigated the bitter drama that saw the store almost closed for good. It started with finger-pointing over a 99-year-old land deal and ended with a reprieve that only delayed what’s now inevitable.
A sign in front of Neiman Marcus, an upscale department store, in downtown Dallas, Monday, June 1, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Neiman Marcus building. Dallas Library – From the collections of the Dallas History & Archives Division, Dallas Public Library.
Dallas Public Library
On Wednesday, the store — which survived two world wars, downtown shake-ups, recessions and relentless industry changes — will open its doors for the last time to customers. The iconic retailer, with its familiar red awnings and large windows, will vacate a structure that’s stood for more than a century.
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The closure is stirring emotions across North Texas as disappointed shoppers cling to nostalgia.
Related: As Neiman Marcus readies to close downtown Dallas store, here’s how we got here
The final day of Neiman Marcus puts the spotlight on a significant question for downtown: What happens next to the building after the store shutters?
For now, it’s hardly clear.
What are your memories of the downtown Dallas Neiman Marcus?
The iconic Neiman Marcus store on Main Street in Dallas is ending its run that dates back to the early 1900s.
Most RecentTop Responses
Candace S
Frisco, TX
09/29/26
What a shame that another Texas dept store is closed and no one helped to save it. I remember watching the movie “Giant” and Luz “Carole Baker” talking about going to Neimans to buy a gown for the opening of the Jett Rink Hotel “Shamrock Hilton” also goine.
The iconic site sits in a part of the city facing real challenges as companies and local governments rethink how they will operate downtown or if they’ll even stay. Still, the Neiman Marcus building is a strong candidate for redevelopment, and sale of the building is a potential outcome, local observers say.
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A mannequin displays a Saint Laurent dress and bag in the windows of Neiman Marcus in downtown Dallas, September 16, 2026. The store is coming to a close at the end of the month.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
There are ideas for its future. They range from residential upgrades to more community-focused approaches. There’s talk about new retail and office space for the building that was once at one of Dallas’ most elegant intersections.
“It’s an incredible landmark,” said Larry Speck, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin and former dean of the school of architecture. “… Dallas has always been a city that sees itself as forward-thinking in terms of fashion, in terms of elegance, in terms of sophistication. It strived for that, and nothing probably exemplifies that more than Neiman Marcus.”
Neiman Marcus, whose name is on over 30 stores in the U.S., joined what is now Exemplar Luxury Group with a multibillion-dollar deal at the end of 2024. The deal meant a tie-up with one of the other biggest names in luxury department stores: Saks Fifth Avenue. While the newly combined company announced the downtown Dallas store’s closing in early 2025, it held off on that move after efforts by the community and the city.
Pedestrians walk past the Neiman Marcus upscale department store in downtown Dallas, Monday, June 1, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
The combined company would run into trouble and filed for bankruptcy early this year. That brought several closing announcements among those retail names — and eventually included the downtown Neiman Marcus site, as the company shifted the focus in Dallas to the NorthPark Center store. The mall site does more than 10 times the sales of the downtown site.
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“The Neiman Marcus downtown Dallas store holds a special place in our company’s history and to our Dallas customers,” Exemplar Luxury Group said in an emailed statement. “We recognize the significance of the building and we intend to take a thoughtful approach to evaluating opportunities for the building in collaboration with the other property landlords.”
The company added Dallas remains an “incredibly important market” for Neiman Marcus.
“We are excited to enhance our NorthPark store by infusing new elements that celebrate our storied history, continuing to evolve the experience where our customers prefer to shop,” it said.
Rick Ericson, spokesman for the city, said the city does not comment on economic development matters.
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Downtown feels pressure
The downtown store is going away amid difficulties in Dallas’ central business district.
Telecommunications giant AT&T — based roughly two blocks from the Neiman Marcus store — said earlier this year it would build a new global headquarters in Plano, spurring concerns about what would become of the office workers that help fill the city’s core.
On the other side of the Neiman Marcus store, Fifth Third Bank, which acquired Comerica, vacated Comerica Bank Tower earlier this year. The Ohio firm plans to occupy a newly built development on the northern edge of Dallas for its regional headquarters.
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Then there are the ongoing questions about the future of Dallas City Hall, the delay with the redesign of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center and other exits by firms sprinkled throughout the city’s towers. There’s also a lack of retail in the core of the city including more grocery options, a longtime request from downtown locals.
Shot June 2, 1972 for this story, published June 3, 1972, page 1D: Marcus, Maoisms Dazzle Chinese – Stanley Marcus has apparently opened all the treasures of Neiman-Marcus to the Orient. The bearded president of the famous Dallas firm returned home Friday from Red China, where he established trade routes, purchased antiques and, in his words, exposed himself to the dangers of becoming a “4-day authority” on the Communist world.
LEE LANGUM/Staff Photographer
The central business district core’s office vacancy rate climbed to 37% in the second quarter of this year, according to a report from real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. All of Dallas was at less than about 25%.
Related: Timeline: A brief history of Neiman Marcus and its flagship downtown department store
Amid the challenges, the downtown area is seeing some promise as well. Dallas College is planning a $500 million campus and mixed-use development downtown. The 800,000-square-foot project will significantly expand the school’s three-acre campus into a “knowledge district” along the Austin Street corridor.
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Texas Woman’s University plans to establish a college downtown that would offer an associate degree with a path to a bachelor’s degree for students who might otherwise not enroll in college.
And downtown also has managed to become more of a residential area. The neighborhood has attracted thousands of folks in the past several years.
Herb Weitzman, executive chairman of real estate firm Weitzman, is positive on downtown — and what the city can do with a building like the Neiman Marcus site. People are looking to invest in Texas, he said.
“We’re a progressive city,” Weitzman said. “And we’re entrepreneurial.”
A complex complex
The Neiman Marcus building itself comes with some unusual layers. It is not a building with a simple landlord structure, given its long history.
Founders Herbert Marcus and A.L. Neiman made land lease agreements a century ago to build and expand their Main Street store. The agreements were extended and altered over generations, giving five parties control of land under the building.
The Neiman Marcus flagship store is seen from Ervay Street in Downtown Dallas on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Exemplar owns about 12,500 square feet of the total 35,000. The city of Dallas owns 2,500 square feet. The city gained ownership in the fallout of the 2025 lease drama between descendants of 19th-century Texas cattle king Christopher Columbus Slaughter and Saks Global.
Roughly 5,000 square feet under the store was donated to the Dallas Foundation in late 1999, and the parcel remains in the nonprofit’s possession.
“While Exemplar Luxury Group owns the building, we are one of a number of owners of the land beneath the building,” Exemplar Luxury Group said in a statement. “We intend to work closely with the other owners on a mutually agreeable solution.”
Related: Who is the landlord in the dispute over the downtown Dallas Neiman Marcus?
There are two other private owners. Virginia-based Keating Properties owns 5,000 square feet, and an affiliate of O’Connor Realty Interests of Texas owns 10,000 square feet.
Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Rusty Rose at the Neiman Marcus 90th anniversary celebration in September 1997. (File Photo)
“We’re just the property owners, and I don’t know anything more,” James Charles Grey of O’Connor Realty told The Dallas Morning News.
Grey, 90 of Palm Beach, Florida, is the grandson of James Charles O’Connor, a former telegraph operator and gold prospector who came to Dallas from the west in the 1870s seeking to make a fortune. He worked as a contractor for the Houston and Texas Central Railway before pivoting to finance near the end of his life.
O’Connor owned land where Stanley Marcus and A.L. Neiman sought to build a new store after the original location on Elm Street burnt down. O’Connor died in 1913, but county deed records show his estate signed a land lease with the Neiman Marcus Group later that year.
An entrance to the Neiman Marcus flagship store from Ervay Street in Downtown Dallas on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Grey grew up in Paris, but he has fond memories of Dallas and the store’s French Fortnight celebrations, which began in the late 1950s. He wishes Neiman Marcus would remain open downtown but said he is open to selling his share.
“I’m interested in the future of this property, and if one of the options would be selling to a developer — of course I would be interested in that,” he said.
Chris Walsh, president of Keating Properties, said only a handful of developers could undertake a project of this nature. If Exemplar wants to sell, getting the other landowners on board would be a good idea, he said.
“I think with the right opportunity, with the right developers, it could be an opportunity to put all the pieces together,” he said. “If it’s not, there are leases in place that would allow somebody to move forward, maybe with a little bit more headwind, but they could certainly move forward.”
Related: Neiman Marcus holds last major event in downtown Dallas with Crystal Charity Ball show
A model at the Crystal Charity Ten Best Dressed Women of Dallas Fashion Show and Luncheon September 18, 2015, at Neiman Marcus downtown.
Dana Driensky
Developer Ray Washburne, who owns several key downtown properties, poured cold water on any notion that he might want the building.
“No major developer is going to do anything with it. It’s too much work for too small of a deal,” he said. “But for some young group coming along, it’s a great project. That’s how the development business works.”
Whatever the case, the ground leases add “a layer of complexity,” said Joseph Cahoon, director, Folsom Institute for Real Estate, Southern Methodist University.
ORG XMIT: A Neiman Marcus model in the flagship downtown Dallas store shows off the latest fashion, circa early 1950s. Photographer: courtesy photo Credit: digital file Date: 19970925 09102007xGUIDELIVE 08012010xGUIDESUNDAY dmn125book
courtesy photo/digital file
Another headwind is the financial costs with new projects amid an environment that’s seen the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield climbing.
“It’s just simply the cost of capital today is … such that it is extremely challenging for developers to take risk,” Cahoon said.
Mark us down for ideas
Still, many are optimistic about what can — and should — be done downtown with the Neiman Marcus building. The structure itself rises more than a half-dozen stories, covering roughly 340,000 square feet.
The Neiman Marcus flagship store building is seen from Ervay Street in Downtown Dallas on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Weitzman said some retail buildings around downtown have been converted into residential and can include retail or restaurant-type businesses on the ground floor. There’s strong demand for places to live in the region, he said.
“Residential is easier to do,” Weitzman said. “I think if we get more people in downtown and they’re walking those streets — then the retailers are going to come back because the retailers follow the people.”
Already, the area is seeing more residential momentum. There are about 16,000 people who live downtown, double from 2008 estimates, according to a report by Downtown Dallas Inc.
Related: A building boom: Downtown Dallas is becoming more residential
For the building to become an apartment, it needs work, said Carlos Alba, an adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Arlington.
At the Crystal Ball Charity Luncheon at Neiman Marcus in Downtown Dallas on 9/10/10.
Carter Rose/Special Contributor.
Its spacious floors mean the amount of daylight that can reach into the more central part of the structure isn’t sufficient for typical apartments. He said that can be addressed by adding open space in the center of the structure.
He also suggested a mixed-use approach with retail on the ground floor, which could include multiple tenants and preserve the historic function the building has served.
There could also be offices on some of the floors amid other uses. Alba said a top-floor renovation could add some nice amenities, including a terrace or greenhouse.
“It’s a piece of architecture that … is already giving to the city,” Alba said. “It’s not that the building is going away. … We’re trying to transform its … use to still be relevant, right?”
Related: Ahead of closure, Neiman Marcus downtown dressed with photos of historic past
From left: Heather Marcus, Richard Marcus and Lady Bird Johnson attended a party celebrating the 75th anniversary of Neiman Marcus at the Fairmont Hotel in 1982.
DAVID WOO/Staff Photographer
Paul Ridley, a Dallas City Council member who represents the downtown area,, wants to see retail at the building. While he’s disappointed to see Neiman Marcus go, he said it serves a higher-end clientele that no longer live downtown.
Instead, he said he’d like to see something that will cater to the growing number of residents who have moved to the city’s core.
“I would love to see the building remain a retail center, and I think there’s a large enough population downtown to support more of a general merchandise store,” Ridley said.
That kind of retailer would have everything from groceries to home goods to cleaning products, helping folks who would have far to walk to get what they need.
Britain’s Princess Margaret talks with Richard Marcus on Monday during her visit to Neiman-Marcus’ 28th Fortnight, which is honoring England, on October 29, 1984.
ED HILLE/Staff Photographer/5587
Speck, who said he’s had dinner with Stanley Marcus, sees a future that taps into the building’s history. He would like to see a fashion museum, a nod to the heritage of Neiman Marcus.
“We’re the kind of city that fashion is something we should be talking about,” Speck said. “And I will tell you, there are bound to be plenty of Dallas women who have in their closet museum quality pieces that could create an initial collection.”
Stanley Marcus introduces Sophia Loren and author Helen Corbitt (right) at the World Trade Center in Dallas for the Neiman Marcus Italian Fortnight and opening gala benefiting the Dallas County Heritage Society on October 13, 1975. Photograph courtesy of the Dallas Public Library – Texas/Dallas History and Archives Division/The Dallas Morning News Collection
JOE LAIRD/Staff Photographer
The museum would be good for downtown more broadly as a draw for people wanting to see new pieces, Speck said.
The building has caught the eye of those who wish to preserve its longstanding place in the city. Last month, Dallas Landmark Commission approved a public hearing to consider starting the historic designation process for the building. Ridley said ultimately it’s up to the City Council to approve that — and he’s ready to help.
Related: Dallas commission moves toward historical designation for downtown Neiman building
“I think that is a way of preserving the architecture of the building, the facade of the building,” Ridley said. “It, of course, doesn’t prevent remodeling the building inside to create … separate demisable floors or whatever they need to do to attract retail tenants.”
Pedestrians walk in front of the Neiman Marcus flagship store in Downtown Dallas on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026.
Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News
Speck, who noted the windows as a key part of the building on the ground floor, said it’s a “good building” that’s a good representation of its retail institution. Most buildings aren’t a “blockbuster” but should rather accommodate what they’re doing. “It’s appropriate, I think, for what it was meant to do,” Speck said, noting he was “super sad” about the closing.
“It wasn’t an accident that that store started in Dallas,” Speck said. “… I very much see that building as a bit of Dallas, a bit of real Dallas aspiration.”