Neiman Marcus would have to keep its flagship downtown Dallas store as part of an agreement to get millions of dollars incentives from the city.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)
Saks Global says its decision to close its landmark Neiman Marcus store in Downtown Dallas is final, despite the city's acquisition of disputed land and public "pressure" to change their strategy.
In a statement last week, Dallas city officials announced it had acquired a piece of land they credited as the root cause of the downtown location's closure and hoped to change the company's mind about the store's future.
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“The ground lease matter that was causing complications “beyond (Saks’) control” has now officially been resolved," Downtown Dallas, Inc. President and CEO Jennifer Scripps said. "We are thrilled that, in the words of Saks Global CEO Marc Metrick, they see their recent acquisition of Neiman Marcus as being about 'growing' and 'not about shrinking.' Saks Global executives have also said the decision to close the Downtown store was not about operations."
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SIGN UP Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert said following the acquisition of the land, the city and the Dallas Consortium for the Downtown Neiman Marcus planned to meet with Saks Global Properties and Investments CEO Ian Putman and his team Wednesday morning at City Hall.
“I want to thank the Dallas Consortium for the Downtown Neiman Marcus for their continued efforts to ensure ongoing operations of the Downtown flagship store," Tolbert said. "The City of Dallas now officially holds the special warranty deed for the parcel that Saks Global Properties said was needed to keep Neiman Marcus’ Downtown store open."
Our decision to close the Neiman Marcus Downtown Dallas store is final and we are moving forward as such.
Saks Global spokesperson
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However, in a statement released Tuesday, the Saks representative said no meeting had been confirmed. The company added that while they were willing to hear the consortium's perspective, they also said the store's future remains unchanged.
"The Dallas Consortium’s ongoing tactic of using the press to pressure us into changing our strategy in Dallas is highly unproductive," the Saks representative said. "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 Saks representative said they made several unsuccessful attempts to meet directly with Tolbert.
"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," they said.
According to the Saks representative, they are still committed to growth and the future of Neiman Marcus in Dallas.
"That future is at the NorthPark store, where we are planning a $100 million renovation," they said.
