Latest news with #NeimanMarcus
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Saks Global taps Neiman Marcus vet as CFO
This story was originally published on Retail Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Retail Dive newsletter. Dive Brief: Neiman Marcus Group veteran Brandy Richardson will join Saks Global as chief financial officer on Aug. 18, the luxury department store said Wednesday. She succeeds Mark Weinsten, who has been interim CFO since Saks' $2.7 billion acquisition of Neiman Marcus. Richardson spent 15 years at Neiman Marcus in various financial roles but since 2021 has served as CFO of Tailored Brands. Weinsten also served in various posts at Neiman Marcus, including as chief restructuring officer during the retailer's bankruptcy five years ago. Also on Wednesday, Tailored Brands said it has launched a search for a permanent CFO and that, meanwhile, the finance team will report to incoming CEO John Tighe. Dive Insight: In a statement, Saks Global CEO Marc Metrick said the company has 'great momentum on our journey to redefine luxury shopping' and that Richardson's experience fits with its goals. 'With her deep background in both luxury retail and finance, Brandy is the right leader to drive Saks Global's financial performance as we execute on our ambitious transformation strategy and capitalize on the significant growth opportunity within the luxury market," he said. Richardson spent 15 years of her quarter-century career at Neiman Marcus; in a statement Wednesday, she called that time 'foundational to my career.' 'I'm energized by the opportunity to return to luxury retail as part of Saks Global during this incredibly exciting time for the company,' she said. 'I look forward to helping drive the company's future success by identifying and pursuing opportunities for sustainable, long-term growth." But she will arrive with Saks Global's finances under strain. The company is grappling with a debt load, facing outstanding obligations to vendors and chasing synergies from the tie-up with its luxury rival. S&P Global Ratings analysts earlier this month called its recent $600 million financing agreement with existing bondholders 'tantamount to a default' and warned of ongoing free operating cash flow deficits. In early June, Saks Global executives told BMO Capital Markets that the company has mended fences with vendors frustrated with waiting on payments and made progress in its five-year goal to achieve $600 million in savings from its merger with Neiman Marcus. The bumpy first year or so at Saks Global has left an opening for rivals, particularly Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's, analysts say. Recommended Reading Bed Bath & Beyond, finally in Chapter 11, is going out of business Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
San Francisco Chronicle
11-07-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Bang & Olufsen returns to Union Square, joining a wave of retail revivals
Nearly a decade after closing its doors in San Francisco's Union Square, Danish luxury electronics brand Bang & Olufsen is set to return this fall to the city's retail core. The high-end audio retailer plans to open a new storefront at 146 Geary St. in October, directly across from Neiman Marcus, according to its website. The location is just a few blocks from its former Union Square store at 535 Sutter Street, which closed in 2016. Bang & Olufsen's expansion extends beyond San Francisco. The company will open another store in Palo Alto's Stanford Shopping Center in November, adding to its existing location in Walnut Creek and bringing its Bay Area footprint to three. The San Francisco Business Times first reported the new openings. The brand's return marks the latest sign of renewed investment in Union Square, which has endured a wave of high-profile retail departures since the COVID-19 pandemic, including Saks Fifth Avenue, H&M and Uniqlo. Macy's, a long-standing anchor with a flagship store fronting Union Square plaza, announced plans last year to sell the property and close its only San Francisco location. Zara is set to open a 40,000-square-foot flagship store at 400 Post Street next year.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
After a Year of High-stakes Financing, Saks Turns Back to High-stakes Retailing
The year since Saks and Neiman Marcus Group cut their landmark $2.7 billion deal has been dominated not by talk of a new luxury retail giant or a modern merchant force taking shape. Instead, it's been all about the rough and tumble of high-stakes corporate finance. On that score, it's been a story of quick and agile dealmaking that would be surprising or just unbelievable from almost anyone else but Richard Baker, executive chairman of what is now Saks Global. More from WWD From Sex Clubs to Castles, Latex to Upcycling, Berlin Fashion Week Had Something for Everyone Saks Global Bolsters Its Finances, Secures $600 Million in Commitments Saks Global Extends Partnership With NuOrder to Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman Consider this: There was the decade-long pursuit of Neiman Marcus. The unlikely deal, with the behind-on-its bills Saks parent Hudson's Bay Co. lining up Amazon, Salesforce and Apollo to buy the somewhat stronger Neiman Marcus. The surprisingly fast approval by antitrust regulators, the deterioration of the low-on-inventory Saks business and a pivot to a $2.2 billion bond sale that replaced Apollo, clearing the way to the close of the transaction two days before Christmas. And then things really got started. Hudson's Bay was spun off and went bankrupt, Saks and Neiman's vendors were thrown into a tailspin by a yearlong schedule to repay past due bills and 90-day payment terms on all shipments going forward. And bondholders — some of whom seem to haven't bothered to read some very important fine print — revolted when they learned their debt wasn't directly secured by the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship. Saks then lined up $350 million in new financing in May only to ditch that in favor of $600 million in financing last month from a group of bondholders jockeying for a better position in the capital structure. From the outside, the company has appeared to be lurching from one crisis to the next. And from the inside, it's seemingly been a nightmare. But last week, new money in hand, Saks made a crucial $120 million interest payment on the bonds. It's said to be paying vendors on time under the new terms and Marc Metrick, chief executive officer, has even floated the possibility of making back payments earlier than planned. 'As we progress over the next few months, if we see a return to what we believe to be normalized receipt flow, we plan to evaluate the possibility of accelerating the timeline to pay back past due balances to our brand partners,' Metrick told vendors in a memo last month that was obtained by WWD. At least for now, the Saks story is no longer a tale about financing. Everyone inside and out agrees that Saks has the money to get through this year and sources close to the company maintain that it has the financial wherewithal to last much longer even if Christmas doesn't turn out to be a blockbuster season. One source said Saks' outside auditors gave the company a clean bill of health — good for at least a year — after the $350 million in financing was lined up and now that's been upsized to a potential total of $600 million, giving it even more cushion. Right now, the future of Saks is not about its ability to wrangle investors or lenders, but the company's retail savvy and its ability to push what Metrick has called a 'reset' of luxury retail through an increasingly complicated retail market. 'All we heard about is 'We're running out of money,'' said Tim Hynes, global head of credit research at Debtwire, summing up the bondholder take on the company. ''We need money for inventory, we need money to make interest payments.' Money, money, money. So OK, we got you set up, you told us you needed this much money, now you show us that you know what to buy and you bought the right inventory and you know how to sell it to make a reasonable profit.' That's the trick in retail anyway — and one that requires finesse in good times and real skill in tough ones, like now when consumers are skittish and President Donald Trump's trade war is still disrupting supply. Big retail mergers are dicey to start with. 'Now, they have control of the best high-end retailers,' Hynes said. 'In theory it should work out. Nobody's going to open a new high-end retailer tomorrow. It's just not going to happen. So they got the market cornered. In theory, if anything's going to work, this should work. Everybody says, 'Rich people always have money, this should work out.' However, if you look at history, combining retailers has never worked out.' That point could be argued, kind of — the Federated-May mega merger worked for a time and changed the retail landscape, but that company, now Macy's Inc., is now morphing again for a new age. But nobody argues that Saks is working in a tough space. 'Department stores are not the best neighborhood to be operating in,' said Mickey Chadha, the Moody's Investors Service debt analyst who follows Saks. 'They're relying on cost cuts, layoffs, efficiencies between the two companies,' Chadha said. 'And that's all great. If you can accomplish that, you're definitely better for your bottom line. However, you have to grow, you have to grow. And their sales have been declining quite dramatically in the last couple of years. So if you don't grow, there's only so much you can do in synergies and cost cuts. 'This $600 million of new monies that we're talking about is great,' he said. 'It gives them more runway to get the ship back on course. But it's not going to be the end all. If they continue to burn cash, that $600 million will then disappear again in the next 12 months, and then they'll need more capital. The holiday is going to be key for them.' Holiday, next year and beyond relies not on raising more money or courting investors, but on making the big Saks reset work. It's a complicated bit of work for Metrick. Saks Global is combining operations for the two nameplates, reestablishing trust with vendors, cementing the new payment terms, expanding through a luxury shop on Amazon and looking at brands in new ways with its Authentic Luxury Group joint venture. Somewhere in there could be a bright future for the idea of the luxury department store, which has suffered blow after blow since the bankruptcy of Barneys New York in 2019. There is no shortage of brands with real gripes against Saks as it just now starts paying bills due years ago. But some luxury labels are also sensing new potential ahead — and brands both large and small say Saks Global is vital to their businesses and its survival is key. One adviser to independent designer brands said they are getting more excited about Saks' shop on Amazon, which launched with 50 brands and is said to be bringing new shoppers into the business. 'Are we going to actually see more sales through e-commerce than we're seeing in the physical stores?' the adviser wondered. 'How does the retail footprint shrink or change?' That refocuses the narrative around Saks back to where it really should be — its retail fortunes. The Bottom Line is a business analysis column written by Evan Clark, deputy managing editor, who has covered the fashion industry since 2000. It appears periodically. Best of WWD Harvey Nichols Sees Sales Dip, Losses Widen in Year Marred by Closures Nike Logs $1.3 Billion Profit, But Supply Chain Issues Persist Zegna Shares Start Trading on New York Stock Exchange Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
13175 S. River Bend Road in Photos
More from Robb Report The World's First Zero-Emission Sailing Yacht Is Expected to Launch This Year Saks Is Losing Luxury Shoppers in the Wake of Its Neiman Marcus Takeover This $6.7 Million Ultra-Modern U.K. Home Appeared in the Robert Pattinson Sci-Fi Film 'Mickey 17' Best of Robb Report The 10 Priciest Neighborhoods in America (And How They Got to Be That Way) In Pictures: Most Expensive Properties Click here to read the full article. The modern residence spans almost 3,700 square feet. The entrance to the home. A slatted wood screen accents the foyer. The dining room is open to the kitchen. Custom walnut cabinetry is featured throughout the kitchen. Huge windows provide unobstructed views of Wolf Mountain. The butler's pantry includes a full-height wine refrigerator. A three-sided fireplace encased in a metal column separates the living and dining areas. The living room has a walnut-paneled ceiling and open views from picture windows. The primary bedroom. The primary bath includes a steam shower and its own washer and dryer. The covered patio with alfresco dining space for 10. Open spaces give way to dramatic mountains. Lounge seating surrounds a fire pit, next to the hot tub. The toy barn offers space for three car. The property spans 35 acres above the Snake River.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Saks Is Losing Luxury Shoppers in the Wake of Its Neiman Marcus Takeover
Saks Global is going through some growing pains. The parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue bought Neiman Marcus in a $2.7 billion acquisition last year, bringing both department-store behemoths under the same umbrella (along with Bergdorf Goodman). And though the move was meant to unite the luxury titans, the brands have run into some trouble: Consumers are opting to shop at other high-end retailers instead, such as Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom, Bloomberg reported. More from Robb Report This $6.7 Million Ultra-Modern U.K. Home Appeared in the Robert Pattinson Sci-Fi Film 'Mickey 17' Singaporeans Are Splurging Despite a Global Luxury Slump A Modernist Home in Montecito Designed by a Pioneering Architect Just Listed for $18 Million Saks Fifth Ave. saw its sales drop 16 percent year-over-year from the quarter ending June 30, while Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf's combined sales fell 10 percent in the same time period, according to Bloomberg's Second Measure, a spending index that tracks consumers' debit- and credit-card use. June also marked the largest sales drop across the three department stores, according to the data, with Saks seeing a 28 percent decrease in sales and Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf declining by 26 percent. Over at Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom, meanwhile, sales rose over 10 percent at both retailers during the same period. In June specifically, Bloomingdale's sales increased by 13 percent, the Second Measure data says. Bloomberg's spending index does have some limits, though. It tracks more debit purchases that credit card transactions; as a result, the info doesn't paint a complete picture of sales at the retailers, since consumers Saks, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf use credit cards more frequently compared to other customers, while Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom shoppers often opt for debit cards. Even so, Second Measure is helpful in tracking trends across different retailers. Part of the reason for Saks Global's troubles, in addition to general economic uncertainty, is an increase in order complaints since January, such as damaged packaging and rejected refunds, according to Mary Ross Gilbert, a Bloomberg analyst that studied customer reviews. This has led consumers to look elsewhere for their luxury goods. On top of that, the conglomerate is dealing with some financial woes, recently taking on more debt, in part, to pay off its overdue bills from vendors, who have slowed or even stopped shipments over fears of a lack of payment, Bloomberg reported. Saks isn't alone in its struggles. A trend of declining sales has been popping up across the luxury industry, thanks to looming tariffs in the U.S. and weakened demand in China, among other challenges. LVMH, for one, was below its estimated sales for Q1 this year, Reuters reported, while Gucci saw its sales drop 25 percent in the first three months of 2025, according to Vogue Business. This year's figures come on top of declining numbers at the end of 2024, with Kering (Gucci's parent company), seeing a year-over-year drop of 12 percent. As for Saks Global, things may be on the up and up. For one, the brand's new storefront has been met positively, a spokesperson for the company told Bloomberg. And shipments from vendors are increasing, too, in the wake of new financing, something that Saks says will 'continue as we execute on our plan to begin paying outstanding balances in July,' the spokesperson told the publication. Making those vendors happy will be a key step to putting the retailer back on the right track. Click here to read the full article.
