• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, February 25, 2025

Saks Global is shuttering Neiman Marcus' Dallas flagship. 

Saks Global is laying off 5% of its staff and undergoing other significant changes as the new holding company continues to integrate the recent merger of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.

The move, reported by Women’s Wear Daily, will result in about 150 people losing jobs.

The company also finds itself in the unenviable position of closing Neiman Marcus’ flagship in Dallas, a shopping mecca for 117 years, unable to resolve thorny land-lease negotiations. That’s likely to lead to more layoffs and has already created alarm among Dallas boosters and preservationists, who denounced the move as a “surprise announcement from out-of-state executives.”

Saks Global also closed Neiman Marcus’ Dallas headquarters.

There are other signs that the $2.7 billion acquisition of Neiman Marcus, announced in July and finalized in December, is hitting some rough patches. Earlier this month, Saks Global announced plans to “reset” how the company pays vendors.

Before the merger, Saks and HBC, the Canadian department store that then owned Saks, had struggled to make payments. That caused some vendors to hold back on merchandise, and some to sue to get their money.

Under the new arrangement, vendors will be paid 90 days from receipt of inventory, with past-due balances being paid in 12 monthly installments not scheduled to begin until July 2025.

Most retailers pay within 60 days, and The Wall Street Journal reports that it is unusual for a large retailer to withhold funds for so many months.

Saks asserts that the new company is in a stronger financial position since completing the Neiman Marcus acquisition. “I understand and am sympathetic to the last 18 months and the challenges regarding payments,” Marc Metrick, CEO of Saks Global, wrote in a memo obtained by WSJ. “Our expectation is that this provides the clarity and certainty you have been seeking. To that end, we are looking forward to seeing the flow of merchandise return to normal levels.”