Neiman Marcus to be sold

[bryce330]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005....omepage The most interesting fact in the article is that they will be expanding into new cities (i.e. Seattle) and possibly opening more Bergdorf Goodman stores. Hopefully, the merchandise will not change for the worse.

 

[Mike C.]

and possibly opening more Bergdorf Goodman stores.

Hopefully, the merchandise will not change for the worse.

Wow... more Bergdorf's. That would suck. BG is a one of a kind store.

As for the merchandise. It will probably only get better, definitely not worse. It is widely know that NM has been doing well in the past few years is because of their dedication to upscale brands and keeping it that way.

 

[StevenRocks]

They definately need to keep BG a Manhattan exclusive. Cheapening the name by overexpansion can only hurt them.

 

[tdial]

They definately need to keep BG a Manhattan exclusive.  Cheapening the name by overexpansion can only hurt them.

I disagree. Who is it going to hurt? And by "hurt" what do you mean? If they expand the BG franchise into, let's say, 5 additional key markets (e.g. Chicago, SF, DC, Atlanta, and Dallas), how is that going to hurt them, assuming they hit their profitability targets in those markets? I suppose you mean that the cache of BG being a NY exclusive will be tarnished somewhat, but if I'm an executive, I'd rather have 4 X earnings rather than 1 X cache.

 

[whnay.]

Hopefully this turns into good news, maybe they'll start selling EG's....

 

[alchimiste]

Who is it going to hurt? And by "hurt" what do you mean? If they expand the BG franchise into, let's say, 5 additional key markets (e.g. Chicago, SF, DC, Atlanta, and Dallas), how is that going to hurt them, assuming they hit their profitability targets in those markets? I suppose you mean that the cache of BG being a NY exclusive will be tarnished somewhat, but if I'm an executive, I'd rather have 4 X earnings rather than 1 X cache.

This seems to make sense. How many customers do they have from outside NY? If they open a few more they may lose some business in NY because people will buy at home instead of shopping when they travel, but that shouldn't hurt them very much.

 

[jcusey]

Hopefully this turns into good news, maybe they'll start selling EG's....

Alas, not likely, at least not as a result of this. Adam Derrick owns the shoe concession at BG.

 

[AlanC]

More stores means more merchandise, which means more future merchandise available at discount and clearance. Sounds good to me.

 

[discostu004]

i hope they don't get rid of those sweet donna karan suits, and the ENDLESS parade of women's stuff

 

[spatten]

I'm hoping they don't get rid of last call - that's my main avenue for new suits.

 

[imageWIS]

i hope they don't get rid of those sweet donna karan suits, and the ENDLESS parade of women's stuff

You mean endless parade of women, don't you?

(Bal Harbour Shops' NM makes for excellent eye candy)

Jon.

 

[discostu004]

the skinny, over makeup'ed girls make me ill. went w/ mrs.discostu004 once to get osmething for her mom and it seemed like the place was never-ending and it was all garbage

 

[LA Guy]

the skinny, over makeup'ed girls make me ill.  went w/ mrs.discostu004 once to get osmething for her mom and it seemed like the place was never-ending and it was all garbage

Definitely not a NM fan (don't really like Bergdorfs either, for that matter.) In LA, at least, NM definitely catered to the ladies who lunch, Eurotrash, and rich old men (notice I did not say stylish). The NM in SF is better, but I defintely prefer the Saks men in SF. Give me a really good independent like Louis or Wilkes, a younger, no, we don't carry Brioni sport for the local Mafioso chain like Barney's, or better still, an independent boutique either.

And is it just me, but do really, really thin women turn anybody a little off?

 

[johnnynorman3]

Not just you -- I'm all for tiny waists, but not if it comes along with a bony back and no . . . well, you know . . .

What turns me off especially is 30 something women that are as thin as 14 year old girls -- it's clearly unnatural. It's one thing to stay in shape; quite another to not eat.

 

[aybojs]

I do pretty much all my physical clothing shopping at Neiman's and really hope they don't have any major shakeups as far as their stores or product lines go. First off, as someone who lives in Texas and plans on remaining there for the near future, I have to say they're the only store in the region with a worthwhile selection. Nordstrom here carries all mid-level vanilla American brands, while Saks just carries the usual ho-hum designers that offer names that may impress the general public, but not quality or taste (Prada, D&G, Hugo Boss, etc). I don't shop at speciality stores because retail simply costs too much and I know my size and preferences enough to be able to grab what I want off the rack and go to the register without relying on sales help (so why pay the extra overhead?). Last Call, in particular, is a godsend for me... I hope they don't mess with it. And to answer LAGuy's question, I have to say no, I really like them

.