It’s been a roller coaster ride for the employees of the Neiman Marcus Flagship Downtown store. Dallas leaders have moved in a big way to remove the roadblocks that are pushing the store towards extinction. Yet, many forces appear beyond their control as the soap opera continues into its 2nd act.
Neiman Marcus and the landlord (Slaughter Partners) have been locked in a decade long dispute with the retailer over a basement level strip of about 2,500 square feet. The details of that dispute aren’t readily available, but they burst into public view with the store’s announcement of the impending closure earlier this month.
I wondered why it was that the poshest retailer on the planet didn’t own their own building. So, I did a little research and found that the landlord of the Neiman Marcus building in Downtown Dallas has owned the property for a significant amount of time. The property ownership dates back to a lease signed in 1926 between Neiman Marcus founders Abraham Lincoln "Al" Neiman and Herbert Marcus, and C.C. Slaughter. The lease was a 99-year ground lease that ended on January 31, 2025.
Neiman Marcus does not own the building themselves because the property was leased under a long-term agreement. The lease was more of a philanthropic arrangement, as C.C. Slaughter was close friends with the Neiman and Marcus families. Over the 99 years, the lease never received more than $400 per month.
Today we would call that corporate welfare, but it was an act of philanthropy to assure that the store survived. So, we now know that the store known colloquially as Needless Markup only had to sell a single shirt each month to pay the rent. But I digress!
The landlord of the Neiman Marcus Downtown Dallas store is Slaughter Partners, a Dallas-based entity. Slaughter Partners is a derivative of C.C. Slaughter, the man who first arranged the 99-year lease.
Christopher Columbus Slaughter, aka C.C. Slaughter, was a prominent American rancher, cattle drover, cattle breeder, banker, and philanthropist in the American frontier. Born on February 9, 1837, in Sabine County, Texas, he became known as the "Cattle King of Texas" due to his extensive cattle operations and land holdings.
Slaughter served as a colonel in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War and later became one of the largest cattle owners in Texas, with over 40,000 cattle and more than one million acres of ranch land. He was also a significant philanthropist.
In the last days, City leaders negotiated a land deal that saw the store's landlords donate the land to the City of Dallas.
Today Saks Global, the parent company of Neiman Marcus, doubled down and confirmed that the store would indeed be closing.
Is this Neiman’s last hurrah or with the titans eventually come to an agreement? Only time will tell! I’ve got my ear to the rail of this roller coaster and will post updates as they become available. I’m just glad that Stanley isn’t around to see this tragedy unfold in slow motion.
Sources:
CBS Texas
CBS Texas
www.fox4news.com
www.wfaa.com
www.dmagazine.com
en.wikipedia.org
www.tshaonline.org
Image: Courtesy Microsoft Copilot