NPR for North Texas
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Closure of downtown Dallas Neiman Marcus will still go through, Saks Global says

FILE - This March, 11, 2009, file photo, shows the Neiman Marcus store in Dallas. The flagship store was on the brink of shuttering its doors in 2025 after a leasing dispute. (AP Photo/Tom Pennington, File)
Tom Pennington
/
AP Photo
The flagship store in downtown Dallas has been open for more than a century.

Despite efforts from Dallas city officials to keep the downtown Neiman Marcus flagship afloat — including the announcement Monday the city had acquired the deed to the property — the decision to close the luxury retailer is “final,” a Saks Global spokesperson said Tuesday.

City officials and members of a group of local city and business leaders called the Dallas Consortium for the Downtown Neiman Marcus said they planned to meet with Saks Global executives Wednesday to discuss the future of the flagship store.

But Saks said while they’re open to hearing the Consortium’s perspective, a meeting hasn’t been “confirmed” and the company's been denied several attempts to meet directly with Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert.

“The Dallas Consortium’s ongoing tactic of using the press to pressure us into changing our strategy in Dallas is highly unproductive,” Saks said in an email. “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.”

KERA reached out to the city for a comment.

The battle to keep Neiman Marcus open is one that’s been going on for more than a decade, according to Saks, and is “a far more complicated situation than what the public is being led to believe.”

Saks Global, Neiman Marcus' owner since last year, announced the store's closure earlier this month and said the decision came after they were notified by a landlord to terminate its occupancy.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.

KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.

Penelope Rivera is KERA's Breaking News Reporter. She graduated from the University of North Texas in May with a B.A. in Digital and Print Journalism.