Neiman Marcus, the famed upscale chain of department stores, has rejected the latest bid for a buyout made by fellow luxury merchant Sacks Fifth Avenue. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Neiman Marcus rejected a $3 billion offer because it wanted more money.
The two firms, however, are said to be continuing their negotiations on a merger.
Neiman Marcus Group is also looking to unload its subsidiary the iconic luxury fashion department store Bergdorf Goodman.
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Sacks Fifth Avenue currently operates 41 stores and Neiman Marcus has 36 outlets.
Saks Fifth Avenue was established in 1924 by Andrew Saks, out of what was previously known as Saks & Co, which was started in 1897. Its first store was located in Washington D.C. It was in 1924 that the firm merged with Gimbel Brothers, Inc. and built its flagship store and building on Fifth Ave in Manhattan. The company currently has 41 stores across North America.
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Neiman Marcus was founded in 1907 by Herbert Marcus Sr., a former buyer with Dallas’ Sanger Brothers department store, with his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman and her husband, Abraham Lincoln Neiman. All three were Jewish. In addition to Bergdorf Goodman, the company also owns Horchow, and Last Call.
In the past twenty years retailers everywhere have been losing more and more of their market share to online sellers like Amazon. And even the luxury stores are hurting.
In May of 2020, Neiman Marcus went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. And this was the worst time imaginable for retailers as the world had just gone into the Covid crisis shutdowns. But the firm came out of bankruptcy by the end of the year and in June 2022 it reported huge increases in sales with the end of the Covid crisis. But in 2023, things have not gone so well for the retailer.