Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy

reuters.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 276 posts

Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy

#231

Post by listenallyall »

bsder wrote: post #176
vl wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Middle class doesn’t shop at Neiman Marcus though.

That wasn't always true. When I started interviewing out of grad school, I REALLY stretched to go buy a nice suit from Neiman-Marcus, a Valentino at $700 in 1995. The suit was gorgeous and the tailor at N-M did a beautiful job adjusting it to me. I could be considered, barely, middle-class--certainly the lower end at best. The suit absolutely paid for itself many times over--that's a different set of stories. That Va…

>> is Neiman-Marcus to blame for going further upscale

You made one purchase at N-M 25 years ago, and from that single experience, you're generalizing the entire merchandising strategy of the brand ever since then?

And your premise is false anyway. The 1 and only Valentino suit currently available at neimanmarcus.com costs $1173, which is less than $1200:

https://www.neimanmarcus.com/search.jsp?aq=valenti&dq=valent...

Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy

#233

Post by gfxgirl »

I'd been to the Neiman Marcus in SF maybe.... once a year when in lived in SF. And a few times in Newport Beach over the last 20 years. I've never seen more than a few people per floor.

It's not surprising to me they are going under. I don't know who their market was. It was all very high end. But, seeing almost no one in those giant stores always seemed like the end was near.

Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy

#234

Post by seisvelas »

apsec112 wrote: post #206
igravious wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Income for this group did not shrink, it just grew more slowly than other groups Another way of saying that it grew more slowly than other groups is that it shrank .

If your first child grows four inches and your second child grows six inches, you don't say that the first kid shrank.

Wow, this simple comment completely changed my point of view on this argument. What a beautiful, almost laconically effective analogy.

edit: not being sarcastic, I just really admire effective communication (to whoever downvoted me </3)

Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy

#235

Post by DaiPlusPlus »

chillacy wrote: post #218
chiph wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

But I’d wager 90% of people know who Picasso was and can recognise his work.

But what percentage of the general public can spot a Nieman Marcus buy from a thrift-store find?

Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy

#236

Post by p1esk »

gen220 wrote: post #216
achillesheels wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 use…

If you liked those small towns, I recommend walking/biking in Ojai. There's something special about it, which is hard to describe. It's one of my favorite places on Earth (yes, it could be the time and place thing).

Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy

#237

Post by dajohnson89 »

DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #235
chillacy wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

But I’d wager 90% of people know who Picasso was and can recognise his work. But what percentage of the general public can spot a Nieman Marcus buy from a thrift-store find?

i bet more people in the world recognize the Gucci logo than can recognize a Picasso.

Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy

#238

Post by gen220 »

p1esk wrote: post #236
gen220 wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 use…

If you liked those small towns, I recommend walking/biking in Ojai. There's something special about it, which is hard to describe. It's one of my favorite places on Earth (yes, it could be the time and place thing).

Thank you for the suggestion, I've bookmarked it for the next time we're down there. Seems like the greater foothills of Los Padres National Forest is a favorable environment for the congregation of these great towns. :)

Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy

#239

Post by listenallyall »

cik wrote: post #49
karatestomp wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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)…

You'd be surprised. The cost of rubbish clothing has fallen, but then the cost of very reasonable mid-quality has dramatically fallen. I used to buy Levis, then Gap for mid range. Now, I get the same quality (and literally the same factory) jeans from Joe Fresh, for 1/4th to 1/5th of the price. Suit shirts are the same. An online tailor I've been using for a decade sells shirts at half the price of Banana Republic (c…

Every men's shirt on JoeFresh.com is either $24 or $29. What Gap do you shop at where prices are 4 or 5x higher? I'd use jeans for a comparison but they aren't on the web site.

Re: Neiman Marcus files for bankruptcy

#240

Post by ethbro »

noitsnot wrote: post #227
ashtonkem wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also changing tastes in clothing have reduced the gap between luxury clothing and cheap clothing by a lot, while home improvement needs remain more or less steady.

Cheap clothing has been taken to a whole new level where the quality at some of the mall stores is really terrible and the prices aren't realistic in comparison.

I think the biggest difference has been increased discoverability.

The point of NM et al. was that they currated what you could not obtain yourself (outside of a private buyer's agent and/or flight to NYC).

With the internet... suddenly manufacturers could efficiently sell direct to consumer. Or at worse, via something like Huckberry that has far lower overhead.

The value proposition of brick and mortar curration evaporated, and the only thing that kept them going was generational intertia and loyalty. And the problem with an aging customer base is eventually they age... terminally.

Financial games and leverage may have exacerbated things, but you can only shrink for so long.

Post reply on HN