Neiman Marcus Files For Bankruptcy

BAY AREA, CA — Neiman Marcus has become the latest retail casualty amid the new coronavirus pandemic. The luxury brand, with department stores on Stockton Street in San Francisco and at Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek, filed Thursday for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to multiple reports.

At the end of March, Neiman Marcus furloughed 14,000 employees and temporarily closed 43 stores, as well as its Last Call outlets and two Bergdorf Goodman stores in New York City, CNBC reported. The closures only exacerbated existing problems within the retailer, which had been struggling with competition from online rivals and dwindling cash before the pandemic.

In addition to the department stores, there are Last Call outlet stores in San Francisco and Milpitas.

Neiman Marcus is the second retailer this week to file for bankruptcy protection. On Monday, preppy clothing retailer J.Crew was the first major retailer to do so since the coronavirus pandemic began and caused businesses to close their doors.

>> Nordstrom Announces 16 Permanent Store Closures

On Wednesday, Nordstrom announced that some of its stores will not reopen following coronavirus closures.

During the bankruptcy, Neiman Marcus will hand business over to creditors, who provided the company with $675 million in financing to continue funding operations. Those creditors will also provide a $750 million financing package to refinance previous funding and provide additional liquidity for the business once it exits bankruptcy.

It’s unclear whether any Neiman Marcus locations will close permanently. William Susman, managing director at Threadstone Advisors, told the New York Times neither Neiman Marcus nor Bergdorf Goodman will likely disappear.

“Neiman Marcus has a bad balance sheet, but it’s still a luxury brand,” Susman said. “They still have a reason to exist.”

— Patch editors Megan VerHelst and Bea Karnes contributed to this story