Neiman Marcus is wasting little time staging its Twin Cities' exit. Originally, the Texas-based retailer planned to close Jan. 31, but strong sales of its clearance merchandise have made the retailer move up the closing date to Saturday, Jan. 26 at 3 p.m., said Ginger Reeder, vice-president of corporate communications.
Another reason for the earlier closing is the huge amount of full-priced merchandise removed from the stores in the past week. One salesperson estimated that more than 60 percent of the merchandise was sent to other stores, leaving entire sections such as men's suits and jewelry looking sadly empty,
The good news for shoppers hoping to bag one more bargain during the ultimate Last Call, is that supplemental merchandise is being brought in Wednesday, Jan. 16 to fill some of the empty spaces, said Reeder. Also, all remaining merchandise already marked down 55 to 65 percent will get an additional 25 percent markdown starting Friday, although items can be put on hold now during pre-sale.
According to Reeder, closing a store is somewhat new territory for the luxury retailer. "This is our first store closing," she said. A store in Houston, Texas was razed in 2005, but that was due to the entire mall being torn down. Most of
the merchandise was simply moved to another Neiman store in Houston, she said.
