Despite pressure from civic groups, Saks Global will shutter Neiman Marcus Dallas downtown flagship store
/Retail is a supply and demand business. That is the concept behind why good malls lease to a critical mass of powerful retail tenants, which in turn attract customers to the mall.
Most downtown central businesses districts in the United States lost that critical mass of retailers in the 20th century, and that includes Downtown Dallas where civic and political leaders have been pressing Saks Global to keep the storied Neiman Marcus Group flagship store open just because that’s the way things have been for 111 years.
Well, guess what! The Times, They Are A-Changin'. Downtown retail has been on the decline in most American cities since the 1960s when Bob Dylan sang “Don't criticize what you can't understand.” And with that, retailers followed customers to the suburbs throughout the second half of the 20th century.
Why would anyone think it’s a surprise that Neiman’s would want to shutter its downtown Dallas store and transfer its declining sales to NorthPark Center, located just 7 miles north, when everyone knows the luxury customer doesn’t want to go downtown to shop?
Saks Global and presumably, NorthPark’s landlord, are together investing $100 million to renovate the Neiman Marcus store at NorthPark. They must know something the Dallas civic leaders don’t understand.
The Neiman NorthPark store will much better serve the luxury customer that also wants to shop at NorthPark’s other luxury retail tenants, such as BREITLING, Burberry, FERRAGAMO, GIVENCHY, Golden Goose, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Montblanc, Nordstrom, Prada Group, Saint Laurent, TAG Heuer, Tiffany & Co. and Versace.
Even if civic leaders could force Saks to keep the Neiman store open downtown, there is still no luxury co-tenancy there to draw customers like there is at NorthPark Center. I say, let it be.