Neiman Marcus to close Minneapolis store next year

MINNEAPOLIS—Neiman Marcus will close its only Minneapolis store by July next year, according to local reports. The luxury retailer opened its 118,000 sq. ft. downtown store in the Gaviidae Common mall in 1991. It currently employs about 107 people.

Neiman Marcus CEO Karen Katz said that the store didn’t meet the retailer’s long term goals, adding in a statement, “As it is so rare that we close a store, the difficult decision was based on a great deal of thought, and a careful study of the market as we very much value the relationships we have established in this market.”

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the original lease was for 15 years and was renewed for a shorter length of time.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, who had lobbied for a lease extension, told the Star Tribune that he and many others expected Neiman Marcus to leave the city as early as 2005.

The last time the Minneapolis Neiman Marcus made news was in 2008 when vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin spent an estimated $75,062 there during the Republican National Convention.

The Gaviidae Common mall is also home to Saks Off Fifth, which converted to the off-price concept in 2005 after years of operating as a Saks Fifth Avenue full-price door.

This isn’t the only high profile Twin Cities closing announce this year: in January, Macy’s Inc. said its 20-year-old 233,000 sq. ft. Bloomingdale’s door at the Mall of America would not be renewing its lease.