The owner of Saks Fifth Avenue said it will shut down Neiman Marcus’s century-old flagship store — just two months after acquiring its longtime luxury rival in a blockbuster merger.
The swanky shop — located inside a 111-year-old, nine-story Renaissance Revival tower in downtown Dallas — will close March 31 due to “circumstances beyond our control,” according to a memo from Saks Global CEO Marc Metrick that was obtained by The Post.
In a bizarre twist, a source close to the situation said Saks Global — which acquired Neiman Marcus in a $2.6 billion deal in December — ran into static with one of the building’s multiple landlords over a parcel of land that lies under the store’s down escalator.
“Without access to this, we are unable to provide the level of service that our customers know and love about Neiman Marcus,” a source close to Neiman told The Post.
The landlord for the down escalator, which occupies a 2,500-square-foot sliver of the building’s footprint, is Slaughter Partners LP, according to a source close to the situation. Slaughter didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Metrick insisted that the flagship closure is not “tied to the recent NMG acquisition” and said the corporate offices above the store won’t be affected by the store closure.
He added that Saks is “disappointed to be losing a piece of our history due to circumstances beyond our control.”
“We received a notice from a landlord to terminate our occupancy, forcing us to close this location, effective March 31, 2025,” according to the memo.
Employees impacted by the closure will be offered “transfer opportunities” to other nearby stores including the nearby NorthPark mall location, which is getting a $100 million renovation, according to the memo.
Over the past two weeks, Metrick and top brass including Richard Baker, executive chairman and chief executive of Saks parent HBC, have been visiting Neiman Marcus’ 36 stores nationwide.
A “handful” of Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue locations will likely close over time, a source said.
Neiman Marcus employees have been bracing for layoffs since the acquisition was announced last summer.
“There’s no way all of us are needed,” one Neiman executive told The Post. “We’re all trying to stay focused on our jobs while facing reality that at some point there will be decisions made about merchants, planners, finance, human resources, IT, legal, marketing and all other functions.”
The flagship store is not the only real estate snafu in Dallas.
In 2023, Neiman Marcus took over 85,000 square feet at CityPlace Tower as part of a $5.2 million tax incentive deal to keep the iconic retailer in the city.
The agreement calls for Neiman Marcus to maintain 1,100 jobs in Dallas, with 35% of its headquarters employees being city residents. At the time, Neiman Marcus said it would create a minimum of 300 new jobs in Dallas by the end of 2026.
But the CityPlace deal was a fiasco, as “the average site usage for Dallas-based associates was only 11 days per year, or about 4%,” according to Saks Global.
This month, Saks Global sent a lease termination notice to CityPlace’s landlord, NexPoint, which is disputing the company’s right to do so.
“We do not believe their lease allows for such termination,” NexPoint said in a statement.
The ill-fated CityPlace deal was cut by former CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck, who sold his Dallas mansion and moved to Manhattan in 2023 as he led an exodus of top Neiman executives out of the city.
Another hub at 5 Bryant Park in Manhattan will also close as Saks Global consolidates its corporate headquarters at its Brookfield office in downtown Manhattan.
The office closures come as the luxury industry is struggling. Saks told its vendors on Feb. 14 that it will make past-due payments in installments starting in July and that all new orders will be paid within 90 days.
“We recognize the challenges of the last year, and are now providing the clarity and certainty that our brand partners have been asking for and deserve,” Saks Global said in a statement. “All of our partners will be paid what they are owed.”
When Baker and Metrick left the Dallas flagship, they took a gold-framed painting of the retailer’s founder Stanley Marcus, which had been “abandoned” in the corporate offices above the store.
Now, it’s hanging in Baker’s Manhattan office, Saks officials confirmed.
“Richard, who has been a long time fan of Stanley, rescued the painting and shipped it to our Brookfield Offices in New York to ensure a piece of Neiman Marcus history and culture was represented in Saks Global’s headquarters.”
