One of my few regrets in life is that I never bought the family a Neiman Marcus Kitchen Computer.
https://www.google.com/search?q=neiman+marcus+kitchen+comput...
Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
211–220 of 276 posts
Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
#212Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exactly. People 20-30 years ago ate that stuff up; these days I think most people see it as garish and tacky. Wealth signaling absolutely still happens, but today the facades it tends to orbit around involve words like "minimal", "natural", "open", "honest". Organic groceries, modernist houses, meditation retreats to exotic places, environmentally-friendly vehicles, freedom from clutter and complication. These, sadly…
I grew up in the south bay, around the early-googler generation of nouveau-wealth. I assumed the kind of wealth signalling typical then was normal. In my experience, fancy clothes were very abnormal and got you the wrong kind of looks. People liked to live in very nice houses on expensive land, but flaunting your wealth beyond that (and maybe your fast car) was generally looked down upon. Porsches were seen as a mid-…
I grew up in an eichler neighborhood same time as you where one out of five households bought the gen 2 Prius. That was virtue signaling.
I caught wind of some tech youtube vlog drama this week and I noticed that the newer generations view FAANG like some viewed Wall St. in the 80’s. The sorting hat for riches changes the gnomish wonder years of the Valley for sure. Also, the open air elitism is just plain tawdry now.
I would say San Diego has the closest look and feel to the South Bay when we grew up. Hard tech in the bio and life sciences provides an educational attainment culture and not so much cash chasing.
Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
#213> Neiman Marcus, laden with debt after a private equity takeover...
How unsurprising.
Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
#214Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because the creditors make money off it as well.
The creditors definitely won't make money. They are other banks, and probably all the suppliers who give to NM on credit and who won't get paid. Chapter 11 is by default bad news for creditors, it means they will get less than the agreed-to value of whatever.
They're not making any money, but they're not universally worse off.
Depending on their status (e.g. if their debt is secured by a lien), it's totally possible that some classes of creditors could be reinstated with the same claims under the reorganization plan (assuming it gets confirmed by the court). Even if a secured class doesn't get the same value and votes against the plan, they're still entitled to a handful of protections under the Bankruptcy Code (§ 1129(b)(2)(A)). Less so for unsecured creditors and shareholders.
Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
#215Earlier quoted context omitted.
To be fair, if they had a PE takeover, they likely weren't in great shape before the takeover. The takeover gave them a little bit longer to live at least.
I had a Russian guy want to do something similar with my shop. I bit him. It was awkward. My father told me I should have beaten him instead.
You bit him? I think something got lost in translation here...
Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
I grew up in the south bay, around the early-googler generation of nouveau-wealth. I assumed the kind of wealth signalling typical then was normal. In my experience, fancy clothes were very abnormal and got you the wrong kind of looks. People liked to live in very nice houses on expensive land, but flaunting your wealth beyond that (and maybe your fast car) was generally looked down upon. Porsches were seen as a mid-…
I grew up in an eichler neighborhood same time as you where one out of five households bought the gen 2 Prius. That was virtue signaling. I caught wind of some tech youtube vlog drama this week and I noticed that the newer generations view FAANG like some viewed Wall St. in the 80’s. The sorting hat for riches changes the gnomish wonder years of the Valley for sure. Also, the open air elitism is just plain tawdry now…
ha! I forgot about how big a deal the priuses were back then. Remember the whale-tail license plates? https://www.sgvtribune.com/2017/09/22/after-20-years-califor... If you sat on a busy suburban corner, you'd find 1 in 5 cars to be a particular-color prius with a whale tail. :)
I also totally agree that it's mostly the newcomers' barefaced pursuit of wealth and becoming "elite", that's driving this shift. People used to want to move to the bay because that's where UNIX geeks and internet enthusiasts went to find like-minded individuals (after Bell's decline) and get funding. Now it's where the aspiring class goes to join the top 10%, and the goods and services cater to it.
Last time I went back (immediately before the whole COVID situation), my SO and I did a road trip from LA to Sacramento, staying mostly with family along the way. We found San Luis Obispo and the various towns between it and Santa Barbara to be varied and delightful (Los Osos, Solvang, Avila & Shell Beach). Cambria also seemed nice, but we blazed through it. The little communities west a north of Santa Cruz, in the mountains also have a special place in my heart. Next time we're back, I'll try to visit SD.
However, I can't help but notice that all of these towns are smaller and much less of a mixing pot than the greater San Jose area, though. I thought one of the coolest parts of my early life was how it was extremely normal to be surrounded by people of diverse socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds (I went to a public school), and also how normal it was to dream big (social mobility was all around you). Maybe it's a time and place thing, and it doesn't come together very often.
Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
Speaking of abuse of statistics, lumping the bottom 20-40% with the top 60-80% of wage earners is extremely deceptive. It's well known that income growth is wildly different for those groups. Inflation adjusted wages for the median worker only increased by 9% from 1973 to 2014.
True. But how much did the productive output of the average American increase? Can we really expect things to "always increase" -- including wages? To me this seems like an absurd idea. The end goal should be improving the median quality of life, through improving the efficiency of factors of production -- lower cost of goods... not through the expectation that the wages should arbitrarily grow linearly with GDP.
increasing efficiency isn't going to help wildfires in Australia, reduce the amount of plastic in the pacific or save any glaciers but wow, congrats on getting shoes for $11 instead of $16
Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
Middle class doesn’t shop at Neiman Marcus though.
I took a shortcut through my local Neiman Marcus last year (I wanted a Five-Guys burger), and looking at what they had for sale and their prices, I couldn't help but think "Even if you're super rich, you'd be nuts to shop here." They had a black t-shirt with some rhinestones (presumably) on it for $5000. It was probably from some famous designer, but still .. $5000 for a t-shirt that had been gone over with a BeDazzl…
> probably from some famous designer
I mean that's it in its entirety right? Otherwise by similar reduction, a Picasso is just some acrylic on canvas.
Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy
#219Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Walk through Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Macy's, H&M, and they start to blend together. But are any of these luxury brands? Nordstrom might be upper-tier retail but it’s hardly luxury.
Could you tell the difference at a glance from something from Neiman Marcus and a clone of that shirt sold by target? I can't.
Sometimes I can tell. Usually you get better detailing with the expensive stuff, in the same way that you get nicer interiors on a Lexus than a Toyota.
Granted the difference in quality is definitely not worth the difference in cost (like many luxury goods you'll end up paying 5x in price for what feels like a 1.2x improvement in quality).
I recently replaced 20 or so $10 target shirts with a handful of $60 shirts from Nordstrom (NM sells them too) and they're much more comfortable, hold up better in the wash too.