Major Luxury Department Store Chain To Shutter These CA Locations

The parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus said Friday it plans to close an additional 15 locations, including three in California.

The stores will close by the end of May as the retail empire moves through Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, a company spokesperson said.

The announcement comes just weeks after Saks Global said it was closing nine locations, including eight Saks Fifth Avenue stores and one Neiman Marcus store. The first round of closings spared California locations.

On Friday, Saks Global said it will close 12 more Saks Fifth Avenue stores and three more Neiman Marcus stores as it focuses on its most profitable businesses and trims debt during its bankruptcy restructuring.

• RELATED: Saks Files For Bankruptcy; See Impact On CA Stores

California stores included in this round of closings are:

• Saks Fifth Avenue - South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa
• Saks Fifth Avenue - The Gardens on El Paseo, Palm Desert
• Neiman Marcus - Topanga, Canyon Park

The locations targeted for the first round of closings are expected to remain open until the end of April.

With plans to close a total of 24 department stores by spring, that would leave the parent company with 13 Saks Fifth Avenue stores, including a location in Beverly Hills, as well as 32 Neiman Marcus locations.

Neiman Marcus stores in Beverly Hills, Newport Beach, Palo Alto and San Francisco are expected to remain open.

Saks Global has been shrinking its business since it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January. Last month, it said it would wind down 14 standalone Fifth Avenue Club personal styling suites, keeping three.

It also shuttered home goods retailer Horchow.com, a business that Neiman Marcus acquired in the late 1980s. As of Feb. 19, shoppers have been redirected to the home category on NeimanMarcus.com.

Additionally, the company is closing down all but 12 of its Saks Off Fifth locations. The remaining outlets will serve primarily as a selling channel for residual inventory from Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.