The Neiman Marcus store in Dallas on Friday got a last-minute reprieve from having to close its doors for good in a deal aimed to buy the city more time to “reimagine” a new future for the retailer’s landmark building.
City officials and the retailer’s owner, Saks Global, announced on Friday that the department store will remain open until the end of the year — instead of closing on Monday.
The agreement caps off more than a month of testy public statements by both sides over a bizarre lease dispute concerning a sliver of the building — which houses the original store– under the down escalator of the nine-story building.
Barbs were exchanged for weeks and even press conferences were held outside the store by the Dallas Consortium, a group tasked with keeping the store open, which accused Saks Global of lying about its stated reason for closing the beloved department store and of unfairly taking a portrait of the store’s founder, Stanley Marcus, to NYC.
Terms of the deal, including any tax incentives the city may have offered, were not announced. But the idea is to “reimagine” the store and put the space to other uses.
The talks come as city officials are looking to revive the downtown area, of which the historic retail icon is considered an anchor.
Store employees learned that their jobs were saved – at least temporarily – this morning at a store-wide meeting, The Post has learned.
The about face comes after a group of Saks Global executives, including executive chairman and chief executive of Saks parent HBC, Richard Baker, met with Dallas officials in the city on March 24 to discuss a contentious lease that was the stated reason for the store closing.
The agreement buys Neiman Marcus and its popular Zodiac Room restaurant more time, but it’s unclear what will happen at the end of the year when the store is expected to close, according to a source with knowledge of the deal.
Between now and then city official and Saks Global will discuss potential concepts for the space, including a “luxury retail experience, a curated art exhibition, and a fashion and event center,” according to the statement. The proposals also include “an incubator for fashion design and manufacturing in Downtown Dallas.”
“As we explore opportunities for the Downtown store, along with a planned renovation at the [nearby] NorthPark store, we will evaluate the opportunity to utillize both locations to serve different customer needs in the Dallas market,” Mark Metrick, chief executive of Saks Global said in a statement.
The building is owned by Saks Global and several other landlords who own smaller portions of the ground lease. One of those landlords, Slaughter Partners, owns a 2,500-square of land under the escalator.
That landlord had terminated Saks Global’s lease, sparking the store closure announcement in February.
But Slaughter reportedly donated its portion of the building last month to the city of Dallas to keep the store open.
At the time Saks Global, which acquired Neiman Marcus in a $2.65 billion deal in December contended that it had “not received any documentation regarding an agreement between Slaughter Partners and the City of Dallas, and how this new agreement would affect the property, its other owners and the store’s ability to operate.”
“We are excited that Saks Global has decided to keep Neiman Marcus open downtown, as we explore the opportunity to unlock the potential to transform downtown into an international beacon and economic engine for fashion – just as the Neiman Marcus founders intended when they opened the store more than 100 years ago,” Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert said in a statement. “We look forward to exploring what‘s on the horizon and are committed to continuing our conversations with the Saks Global team.”
