Neiman Marcus

Multi-brand and vertically integrated beauty stores are shaking up the beauty industry — and growing at a rapid rate.    With hundreds of new doors opening in various formats, cosmetics specialty and vertically integrated stores, such as Ulta, Sephora, Bluemercury, NYX, Kiko Milano, and e.l.f., have grown at a compound annual growth rate of nearly 19% over the past five years, according to a report by research and consulting firm Kline. Such stores now account for an estimated 20% of total beauty market sales. 

Mackage

Toronto

Design: Burdifilek, Toronto

A premium brand born from the celebration of colder climates, Mackage (Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Toronto) received Store of the Year honors in the Retail Design Institute’s 46th annual International Store Design Competition.

Neiman Marcus is making moves to offset its debt and improve its capital structure.   The luxury department store’s first step was to eliminate 225 positions. Affected employees — which span all brands and operating divisions — will receive severance packages, and also be considered for other job openings within the company, according to the Dallas News.  

Consumers shopping for others bring different expectations and needs than those shopping for themselves. Until now, retailers have turned a blind eye to the enormous sales opportunities in digital gifting, which is estimated to represent $200 billion-300 billion in sales annually.  Leading retailers and brands such as Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Coach, Lilly Pulitzer, Vera Bradley, and others have begun to embrace innovative, new digital gifting solutions and monetize the emerging digital gifting category.   

A luxury department store retailer has lost its first-ever cyber security chief.   Sarah Hendrickson has left her post as Neiman Marcus’ chief security information officer, reported D Margazine. She joined the company in November 2014, the first executive to hold the position. Neiman Marcus introduced the role following its high profile data breach in 2013.  

“Ridgmar…has always had a good regional location, and that’s not something to give up on,” Weitzman broker Bob Young told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.     A fixture in the central Texas city since the 1970s, Ridgmar Mall is is replacing shuttered Neiman Marcus and Macy anchors with a SeaQuest Aquarium in an attempt to escape the fate of two other malls that have closed in Tarrant County: North Hills Mall in North Richland Hills and Six Flags Mall in Arlington.  

Neiman Marcus Group is going it alone — at least, for now.

The interim CFO of Neiman Marcus has resigned after seven months on the job.   Michael Fung will step down from his position as the luxury retailer’s interim CFO and COO, effective June 30. Fung temporarily left his retirement to join the company on an interim basis in November 2016.