• June 14, 2011

Barneys New York, Nordstrom, and Bergdorf Goodman are the three top luxury department store brands among ultra-affluent consumers, according to the latest quarterly ranking from Unity Marketing. But the Stevens, Pa.-based market research firm also reports that among these shoppers, defined as the 2% of Americans with incomes of $250,000 or more, luxe stores are still struggling a bit: Of the seven measured, only one-Saks Fifth Avenue-actually gained share in the quarter. "These top retailers can serve as both a model and a cautionary tale for others who would like to operate in this space," writes Pam Danziger, Unity's president and author of Putting the Luxe Back in Luxury. "While the popularity of each store waxes and wanes quarter-to-quarter, the overall trend is that ultra-affluents are slowing their pace of shopping in the luxury department store sector."