Saks Global said it is sticking to its decision to close Neiman Marcus' historic flagship store in Dallas, despite the fact that local business leaders have resolved a troublesome dispute with the landmark landlord a century ago.
Last week, the reason for Saks Global's decision to close the store on March 31 was the strange beef on land on 2,500 square feet below the down escalator of the nine-story department store.
In a memo announcing the store closure last week, Saks Global CEO Marc Metrick said, “Saks, who won Neiman Marcus on a $2.65 billion contract in December, is “disappointing that they are losing a piece of our history because of circumstances beyond our control.”
However, according to a statement released by the group on Wednesday, the landlord brokered a last-minute transaction on Tuesday, and the landlord agreed to “donate” his ground lease to the city of Dallas.
Downtown's Neiman Marcus' so-called Dallas Consortium proposed opening a bottle of Sax Global Honcos and champagne at Neiman Marcus's fancy restaurant Zodiac next week.
Saks Global didn't work.
“Given our role in the Dallas community, we are working to schedule a meeting with the Dallas Consortium, but for now our plans to close downtown Neiman Marcus,” the Big Apple company said late Wednesday.
Previously, the company said that Slaughter Partners LP, a dispute with the landlord, had been in rage for 10 years, and the massacre ultimately ended its lease.
Slaughter Partners did not reply to a request for comment.
The slaughter family held a 999 lease at the Brocklong building. According to the consortium, they were close to the families of Neiman and Marcus, who founded the retailer in 1907.
The lease never generated more than $400 a month for its massacre partners, according to a consortium statement on Wednesday.
Saks Global owns a significant share of the building, along with several groups of landlords, including Slaughter Partners.
“We know Dallas is excited about the deal,” said Dallas real estate developer Sean Todd, who brokered the deal with a landlord's representative during a flight to Los Angeles last night. “The city says Neiman doesn't have to worry about that rent.”
It's not clear that Saks Global and the consortium will be discussing next week as Dallas officials are desperately trying to preserve Neiman Marcus's 117-year-old legacy within the city.
Metric and Chairman Richard Baker have visited 36 Neiman Marcus stores over the past few weeks.
On Tuesday, Saks Global handed out Pink Slips by 5% or about 150 corporate staff (many of whom worked in Dallas) with retailers to hand out a slowdown in luxury spending.
On the same day, the consortium held a Press conference outside the department store He then handed out a copy of the New York Post. This first reported that stock in the Strauder Partners' building was the source of landlord's controversy.
“Can you imagine a New York City blowback if Baker closes Bergdorf or Sachs Fifth Avenue?” Todd said at a press conference. “We can guarantee that it whispers in comparison to the reaction that Texans had about the store.”
Todd also peered Metric and Baker into a portrait of Stanley Marcus, founder of Neiman Marcus.
The gold framed paintings are located at Sachs Global's downtown Manhattan headquarters, and “to ensure that part of Neiman Marcus' history and culture is represented by Sachs Global's headquarters.”
Todd asked them to return “I can support him for another 117 years” at the Neiman Marcus Store, he said at a press conference.
Saks Global declined to comment on the portrait.
