DALLAS—It seems like every retailer in the world is talking about omnichannel retailing and creating a “seamless shopping experience,” yet for the most part on the corporate level, the e-commerce and brick-and-mortar divisions are just that, divided.
Except at Neiman Marcus Group. In what President and CEO Karen W. Katz called “the biggest organizational change we've made in almost 20 years,” the company has merged Neiman's physical and online stores into one brand and team, reporting to President John Koryl.
“It's really an evolution and extension of our business model,” Katz said at the company's third quarter 2014 conference call. (And bravo to Neiman Marcus for still offering information even after being taken private by Ares Management LLC and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for $6 billion last year.)
Meanwhile, store development and redevelopment continues, with a focus on the most productive units in major cities. The company just opened its first store in Louisiana, a Last Call at Riverwalk in New Orleans, and is about to engage in major remodels of units in Oak Brook, IL, Palo Alto, CA, Beverly Hills and Bergdorf Goodman in New York City.
Oddly, Katz admitted that the team had not considered opening airport stores, at least until an analyst mentioned it. (Huh? I know people who change planes in London's Heathrow just to get a quick Harrods fix.) “We probably should put it on our radar screen,” Katz said.
That seems to be the one channel this retailer is missing. I wouldn't put it past them to fix that soon.
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