Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
reuters.com
Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
1–10 of 276 posts
Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
#2I think even without Covid, its harder to tell what is luxury in apparel. There have been a couple articles on this.
There used to be a clear difference between the look of clothes at different retailers but not as much anymore.
Walk through Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Macy's, H&M, and they start to blend together.
Doesnt mean no difference but maybe not enough to always charge a premium.
Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
#3First guess: private equity?
Neiman Marcus, laden with debt after a private equity takeover,
Yup.
Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
#4I think even without Covid, its harder to tell what is luxury in apparel. There have been a couple articles on this. There used to be a clear difference between the look of clothes at different retailers but not as much anymore. Walk through Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Macy's, H&M, and they start to blend together. Doesnt mean no difference but maybe not enough to always charge a premium.
They all seem to have decided on a "market expansion at the expense of brand dilution" strategy. Ditto most of the formerly-consistently-good clothing brands. I'm not really sure which stores/brands replace the ones that have done this, these days.
[EDIT] I suspect part of this is because the cost of actually-good clothes hasn't dropped like shitty-clothes costs have, because (this is further speculation on my part) a good bit of the "savings" from internationalization, by the time it reaches consumers, is actually making many categories of goods worse and eliminating mid-tier stuff (formerly bottom-tier) outright so the gulf between lower-end luxury (paying for quality, not name) and plain ol' low-end has grown, putting pressure on luxury brands to cut prices... but they can't with their current products, because internationalization hasn't actually dropped the price of producing decent goods by very much, so instead they cut quality.
Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
#5First guess: private equity? Neiman Marcus, laden with debt after a private equity takeover, Yup.
Wow, why don't people wise up to this PE trick? Seems like creditors would learn their lesson after so many examples...
Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
#6I think even without Covid, its harder to tell what is luxury in apparel. There have been a couple articles on this. There used to be a clear difference between the look of clothes at different retailers but not as much anymore. Walk through Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Macy's, H&M, and they start to blend together. Doesnt mean no difference but maybe not enough to always charge a premium.
I had never put my finger on this before but you're right.
Also it's a total crap shoot on manufacturing quality.
Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
#7First guess: private equity? Neiman Marcus, laden with debt after a private equity takeover, Yup.
Same with J Crew.. real value creators these PE people are
Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
#8Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
#9I think even without Covid, its harder to tell what is luxury in apparel. There have been a couple articles on this. There used to be a clear difference between the look of clothes at different retailers but not as much anymore. Walk through Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Macy's, H&M, and they start to blend together. Doesnt mean no difference but maybe not enough to always charge a premium.
They all seem to have decided on a "market expansion at the expense of brand dilution" strategy. Ditto most of the formerly-consistently-good clothing brands. I'm not really sure which stores/brands replace the ones that have done this, these days. [EDIT] I suspect part of this is because the cost of actually-good clothes hasn't dropped like shitty-clothes costs have, because (this is further speculation on my part)…
Yeah. It's not just department stores--which I have less direct experience with. A lot of the old line "mail order" outfits like LL Bean, J Crew, Lands' End, etc. (as well as many of the at least semi-premium outdoor clothing/gear/etc. brands) are much more of a both quality and customer service crapshoot than they once were.
At the risk of painting with an overly broad brush, when everything is made in the same, mostly Far East, factories and has to compete with essentially disposable clothing at some level, it all starts to look more or less the same.
Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
#10I hope individuals and businesses start saving again. When I was a kid, everyone saved money. We spent it too, but we all saved for rainy days. Maybe that idea will make a come back now. Be prepared. You never know what may happen.