Big news for Neiman Marcus Group—it has made a bold and splashy acquisition that sets the company apart from other retailers. The company is acquiring the on-line luxury shopping business Mytheresa from founders Christoph and Suzanne Botschen and private equity firm Acton Capital Partners. The company is headquartered in Munich, Germany where the flagship store is also located. The fashion site is quite successful in Germany, has good acceptance in the rest of Europe, and is gaining traction in Asia. Mytheresa is a truly International company that will provide Neiman Marcus Group’s management team better insight into the global fashion scene. Currently the Neiman Marcus group has stores only in the United States.
Mytheresa.com generates estimated net sales of 100 Million Euro (about $130 Million). The company delivers exclusively designed fashion merchandise to 120 countries worldwide. It is estimated that two thirds of the turnover is from countries outside Germany. All designs for Mytheresa.com currently come from Germany, in the future this could change. Now with an American parent, there might be some influence on the fashion and the presentation. However, the team and Mr. and Mrs. Botschen will remain with the company.
Theresa, the store location open for 27 years in Munich, offers a selection of International luxury brands. The previous owners considered opening additional stores but its skyrocketing Internet business, Mytheresa.com, prevented that move.
Neiman Marcus has several direct to consumer operations including Neiman Marcus.com, Horchow.com, Lastcall.com and Bergdorfgoodman.com – all featuring luxury brands that reflect the image of the brick and mortar stores. The company operates 41 Neiman Marcus stores in luxury locations throughout the United States and two Bergdorf Goodman stores in Manhattan. In addition the company operates 36 Last Call clearance centers. Total stores space is more than 6.5 million gross square feet. In the last fiscal year, (ending July 1, 2013) the company reported sales of $4.65 Billion.
Neiman Marcus, like Nordstrom with their recent acquisition of the Trunk Club, is trying to reach more costumers through the Internet with exciting, high fashion sites that offer unique services to their customers. It is a correct assessment of the times – young sophisticates shop on the Internet, selecting the latest fashions at a time that is convenient to them. Fashion has always been the hallmark of Neiman Marcus stores and one can see it in the extravagant catalogues the company publishes – especially the Christmas book sporting unique over the top luxury gift ideas such as “his and hers airplanes” offered in the Christmas book several years ago.
Karen Katz, the CEO of Neiman Marcus Group, has bold plans for the company’s future. In 2018 the company will open a 250,000 square foot Neiman Marcus store in New York’s Hudson Yards. This will create a new shopping are--in sharp contrast to the planned opening of the new Nordstrom store on West 57 Street in 2018 in an already established shopping venue at Columbus Circle. I suspect Ms. Katz will consider growing the company via further acquisitions and International expansions thereby bringing the Neiman Marcus specialty store formula-- with its fabled designers and careful attention to customers tastes-- to more consumers globally. With Ms. Katz at the helm, I can visualize a dynamic top line growth story unfolding at Neiman Marcus Group.
