FOLLOWING a hoped for U-turn on its closure plans for a 99-year-old location, a popular department store chain has announced its final decision for the store.
Saks Global has spoken out on the fate of its flagship Neiman Marcus store in Downtown Dallas, Texas.
Saks Global, the company that acquired Neiman Marcus in 2024 for $2.7 billion, confirmed that its decision to shutter the beloved location after 99 years was final despite opposition from the public and the city.
Dallas officials shared last week that they had acquired a piece of land they credited as the main cause of the store’s closure, hoping to change Saks Global’s decision to close the longstanding Neiman Marcus.
“The ground lease matter that was causing complications has now officially been resolved,” said Downtown Dallas, Inc. president and CEO Jennifer Scripps, per local NBC affiliate KXAS-TV.
“We are thrilled that, in the words of Saks Global CEO Marc Metrick, they see their recent acquisition of Neiman Marcus as being about ‘growing’ and ‘not about shrinking.'”
After the acquisition of the land, the city and Dallas Consortium for the Downtown Neiman Marcus intended to speak with Saks Global properties and investments CEO Ian Putman and his team on Wednesday morning, said Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert.
“I want to thank the Dallas Consortium for the Downtown Neiman Marcus for their continued efforts to ensure ongoing operations of the Downtown flagship store,” said Tolbert.
“The City of Dallas now officially holds the special warranty deed for the parcel that Saks Global Properties said was needed to keep Neiman Marcus’ Downtown store open.”
However, the meeting had not been confirmed, per a company statement shared on Tuesday.
Saks Global also asserted that while they were open to hearing the consortium’s thoughts, the decision to close the landmark Neiman Marcus store remained unchanged.
“The Dallas Consortium’s ongoing tactic of using the press to pressure us into changing our strategy in Dallas is highly unproductive,” a Saks representative said in the statement.
“Even after our corrections to their previous false statements, they continue to go to the press, making inaccurate claims. Our decision to close the Neiman Marcus Downtown Dallas store is final and we are moving forward as such.”
The company had made multiple fruitless efforts to meet directly with Tolbert, according to the representative, and noted that the situation had been going on for over 10 years and was “far more complicated” than the public was led to believe.
Despite its decision to shutter the flagship store, Saks Global still aims to maintain and grow its presence in Dallas, with plans for a $100 million renovation underway at the NorthPark store.
The Dallas Consortium’s ongoing tactic of using the press to pressure us into changing our strategy in Dallas is highly unproductive. Our decision to close the Neiman Marcus Downtown Dallas store is final and we are moving forward as such.”
Saks Global RepresentativeTROUBLE BREWING
News of the downtown Dallas location’s closure first broke in late February when Saks Global shared it was being forced to shutter the longstanding store.
“After more than a decade of negotiations, we received a notice from a landlord to terminate our occupancy, forcing us to close the Neiman Marcus Downtown Dallas location effective March 31, 2025,” a company representative told KXAS-TV.
“This location has been a beloved institution in the community for more than a century, and we are disappointed to be losing a piece of Neiman Marcus history.”
Nearly a century ago, Neiman and Marcus entered into a 99-year ground lease for a piece of land in Downtown Dallas owned by C.C. Slaughter, a close friend of both families.
While the lease expired in January, it was extended to March 31, 2025.
The land deal made between the building owner and the city gave hope to many that Saks Global would keep the store open and make a U-turn on its closure plans.
US braces for '45,000 store closures'
Some 45,000 bricks-and-mortar stores could close in the next five years, experts have warned.
Several major retailers have announced store closures or gone out of business altogether in recent years.
In 2023, chains such as Foot Locker announced plans to close up to 400 outlets by 2026.
While, other well-known retailers like Tuesday Morning and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams filed for bankruptcy in 2023.
Bed Bath & Beyond has closed all of its brick-and-mortar stores and is now an online-only retailer.
The most affected retailers have been clothing, consumer electronics, sporting goods, hobby, book, music, and home furnishing stores since the start of 2019.
UBS has predicted the total number of retail stores will drop by 45k from 958k to 913k.
Despite that, the report says that certain stores should thrive while others decline.
It said retailers such as Walmart, Costco, Home Depot, and Target, could be among the winners.
However, to the dismay of fans and city officials alike, the parent company reaffirmed that its intention to shutter the iconic location had not changed.
“Given our role in the Dallas community, we are working to schedule a meeting with the Dallas Consortium, however, at this time, our plans to close the Downtown Dallas Neiman Marcus remain in place,” a company spokesperson previously said.
Other retail giants are similarly closing down locations.
For example, a major discount retailer is holding a 40% closing-down sale as it shuts 200 stores following a bankruptcy filing.
Meanwhile, craft lovers are rushing to stock up on supplies as an iconic retailer starts closing sales after its second bankruptcy filing.
GettyDespite opposition from Dallas officials and the public, Saks Global will officially shut down the beloved landmark Neiman Marcus store[/caption] Read More Details
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