Neiman Marcus’ Dallas Flagship Store to Close, Confirms Saks Global

Dallas—Saks Global has confirmed that the Neiman Marcus flagship store in downtown Dallas will be closing at the end of the month.

The company recently acquired Neiman Marcus Group, which owns Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. Its portfolio also includes Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Off 5th.

The iconic downtown location, a Dallas landmark for more than 100 years, will close March 31, the retailer confirmed, debunking rumors that the store would remain open.

The retailer said it has offered transfer opportunities to nearby Neiman Marcus locations for impacted employees whenever possible and has offered separation packages to those who are eligible.

“The claims that the store will remain open are misleading for the Dallas community, our store employees, and our brand partners,” said Ian Putnam, CEO of Saks Global properties and investments.

The confusion is the result of an ongoing back-and-forth among Neiman Marcus, one of its landlords, and the City of Dallas.

The retailer announced the location would close last month, which prompted community leaders and officials to form The Dallas Consortium for The Downtown Neiman Marcus.

Their efforts to keep the store open, which included a lease negotiation with one of the landlords, sparked hope for those who would be affected by the closure.

However, on Feb. 27, Saks Global doubled down, confirming via a press release that the location would close.

In a statement to National Jeweler on Tuesday, a Saks Global spokesperson said, “The Dallas Consortium’s ongoing tactic of using the press to pressure us into changing our strategy in Dallas is highly unproductive.

“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 store closure is not a response to its performance or a decision made by its new owner, Saks Global, but rather a landlord dispute with Slaughter Partners LP, according to an internal memo obtained by the Dallas Morning News.

While Neiman Marcus owns a majority of the land under the store, some of it is divided up among different owners, explained the report by the Dallas Morning News.

There is a 2,500-square-foot parcel of land at the heart of the dispute, which is owned by two groups with ties to the Slaughter family.

The owners of Slaughter Partners are descendants of C.C. Slaughter Jr., who signed a 99-year lease with two of the store’s founders Herbert Marcus and A.L. Neiman for the property in 1926, according to the report.

C.C.’s father, Christopher Columbus Slaughter, was “the first native-born cattle king of Texas,” moving to Dallas in the 1870s and establishing himself as a successful businessman and philanthropist.

In a press release, Saks Global gave some insight into the back and forth between Neiman Marcus and Slaughter Partners, which it said has been going on since 2011.

“Saks Global inherited this lease issue from Neiman Marcus’ previous owners and worked in good faith to come to an agreement with the landlord, who chose to terminate our occupancy,” said Putnam.

The previous leadership at Neiman Marcus Group had discussed the possibility of purchasing its portion of the land with Slaughter’s broker, but the landlord would not offer a price, said the company.

In November 2024, the previous leadership at Neiman Marcus Group reached out to the City of Dallas for help with the lease negotiations.

City officials expressed concerns about the store and its continued operation, said Saks Global.

Last week, the consortium, formed by city officials and business leaders, announced that, following conversations with a Slaughter family representative, the family intends to donate the land to the city via a philanthropic lease.

“This kind of vision and cooperation between the real estate community, downtown stakeholders, and longtime passionate Neiman Marcus customers have been the driving force motivating us for the betterment of our city,” Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert said in the statement to the local news.

“We are committed to ensure that the flagship Neiman Marcus store in downtown is open for many years to come with no barriers related to this land lease.”

With the lease issue presumably solved, there was hope the store would remain open.

However, the following day, Saks Global published its press release confirming that it would still close the downtown location and it reiterated its decision to National Jeweler on Tuesday.

“We acknowledge the position of the Dallas Consortium, particularly given the slow resurgence of the downtown Dallas area over the last several years and are willing to hear their perspective. However, we have to make decisions as a business about what’s best for the future and our long-term success in Dallas and beyond,” Putnam said in the release.

Saks Global said that it has not received any documentation about an agreement between Slaughter Partners and the City of Dallas and has no information on how this new agreement would affect the property, its other owners, and the store’s ability to operate.

The company also pointed out that the suggestion to make the lease philanthropic rather than commercial was only made an option after Slaughter attempted unsuccessfully to raise its rent.

Saks Global claimed that during negotiations, Slaughter “demanded rent well above market rates,” knowing that Neiman Marcus would not be able to operate its store in this location without a lease agreement.

Saks Global also denied reports that it had confirmed a meeting with city officials to discuss the future of the store.

“This is a far more complicated situation than what the public is being led to believe and has been going on for more than a decade,” a Saks Global spokesperson said.

“While we had been willing to hear the consortium’s perspective, a meeting was not confirmed. We have made several attempts to be connected directly to the city manager, as an official representative of the City of Dallas, and we were denied.”

“We are committed to growth and are focused on Neiman Marcus’ future in Dallas. That future is at the NorthPark store, where we are planning a $100 million renovation.”

Dallas is Neiman Marcus’ home base and a top market for its brand, according to Marc Metrick, CEO of Saks Global Operating Group.

Founders Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband, A.L. Neiman, established the company in downtown Dallas in 1907. A fire destroyed the original location in 1913, and the current store was built in 1914.

Though a beloved landmark, customer data shows that the “overwhelming majority” of its Dallas customer base prefer to shop at its NorthPark store.

“We know that the local community shares in our disappointment about losing a piece of Neiman Marcus history, but customers have expressed their excitement about the reimagination of NorthPark,” Metrick said.

The ongoing lease drama is one of several issues plaguing the retailer, which has also run into issues with its vendors.

In a Feb. 14 memo to Saks Global vendors, obtained by Retail Dive, Metrick admitted to an 18-month backlog of unpaid vendor bills, an issue analysts had warned would hurt its inventory management and revenue.

The plan Metrick laid out to pay these vendors ruffled feathers.

Purchase orders will now be paid 90 days from receipt of inventory. However, past-due payments will not be made to vendors until July, as per the memo, and they will be sent out in 12-month installments.

The memo also seemed to imply that brands who pause shipments and order fulfillment in the meantime may be axed from Saks Global’s stores.

The retailer also announced last week that it was laying off 5 percent of its corporate staff, or around 150 people, as per a WWD report.

Saks Global laid off around 100 employees last July just before the Neiman Marcus acquisition announcement.