Dive Brief:
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Neiman Marcus last week axed less than 100 jobs — representing under 1% of its 15,000-strong workforce — mostly through attrition but also through layoffs, the Dallas Morning News reported Friday. A Neiman Marcus spokesperson confirmed the News' account to Retail Dive but declined to comment further.
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The downsizing, which is meant to help the department store "focus on high-growth areas," took place last Wednesday, and those affected are receiving severance pay and outplacement support, according to the report. Job cuts were all at the company's Dallas area operations, the News reported.
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The privately held retailer, which also runs Bergdorf Goodman, in June was allowed to end quarterly performance reports after lightening its debt load. In its last-reported quarter, total revenues fell year over year to $1.06 billion from $1.17 billion and comp sales fell 1.5% as net loss widened to $31.2 million, topping the year-ago period's $19.9 million net loss.
Dive Insight:
Like all department stores, Neiman Marcus is struggling to update the once successful model for the 21st century.
In addition to Bergdorf, which CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck in June singled out as especially primed for growth, the company runs Last Call, Horchow, Cusp and Mytheresa — the last the subject of a tussle with lenders over the transfer of the European e-commerce business, which the company is contemplating selling. Otherwise, van Raemdonck has said that the company is focused on a loyal customer base local to its operations, which he characterized as fortuitous because it's less dependent than rivals on tourism, which in recent months, due to a drop-off in Chinese visitors to the U.S., has failed to deliver the boost that luxury retailers had become accustomed to.
More dire for Neiman is a series of merchandising missteps, he also admitted earlier this year. And in New York, where Bergdorf is an East Side fixture and Neiman Marcus is an anchor of the new Hudson Yards development, the retailer is facing stiffer competition as the renovation of Saks Fifth Avenue takes hold with a series of eye-catching features (including, soon, Barneys New York concessions), and Nordstrom's flagship there has opened.
