THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT | ISSUE 08
Curtain Call
In what feels like the literal curtain call for Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman, Chanel quietly pulled out of multiple Neiman Marcus locations—my former home store among them.
She was there last Saturday.
By Sunday? Gone without a trace.
Clothing, shoes, bags, makeup—all vanished overnight. In her place: a black velvet curtain. And in front of it, a chrome sign that reads:
“Please pardon our appearance while we make improvements.”
Except Chanel's departure isn't exactly an improvement.
Unless we’re counting Saks Global's reported preparations to file Chapter 11—as early as this week—as something better than bouclé.
And I sincerely doubt that’s the outfit change Neiman Marcus wants to spotlight.
I visited Neiman’s on Wednesday to confirm the rumors. They were true.
The place I once lovingly called The Mothership felt hollowed out.
A flagship drowning in an empty mall, still pretending to function.
At Christmas, I’m told, the doors opened early for extended hours—but the lights weren’t turned on until the usual time, leaving both salespeople and customers stumbling through the dark. Literally.
Many of the brands I once leaned on? Gone.
The shelves? Sparse—products spaced—unsuccessfully—to try to disguise the void.
The floor? Silent.
And on Wednesday? Not one familiar face. Entire departments seemingly unmanned.
In handbags, only a lone figure behind Saint Laurent’s glass, arms stretched across the empty counter.
In cosmetics, salespeople lounged in chairs—something unthinkable just a few years ago. Sitting was forbidden. Lounging? Blasphemy.
In shoes: no one.
In contemporary: silence.
When I finally approached the only associate in sight, she seemed irritated to be bothered.
The sign still stands—tall, gleaming, a backbone of chrome.
But Neiman’s?
She’s not renovating.
She’s dismantling piece by piece.
Chanel was the first petal to fall.
Will the rest of the garden follow suit?
The Sins of the Parent
As for Saks Global? Chanel’s Neiman’s departure likely didn't even register.
They’re too busy trying to secure Chapter 11 funding to keep the operation afloat. But investors aren’t lining up to support Saks—and with good reason.
Saks has reportedly failed to pay its vendors and is now being sued by many of them, creating a financial daisy chain that may be impossible to untangle.
So is Chapter 7—read: liquidation—on the table, too? According to CNBC, yes. Saks is reportedly in talks with liquidators to close a number of stores. That said, reports now suggest the company is preparing to file for Chapter 11—possibly even today—making a full liquidation seem increasingly unlikely.
What does this mean for luxury retail at large? Who stands to gain from Saks’ decline?
Blooming Glory?
Could Bloomingdale’s fill the void? Maybe.Recently, they’ve incorporated more under-the-radar luxury brands like Biologique Recherche and Toteme—you can now find both on their website.
But in-store? A different story entirely.
When I visited my local bloomies—yes, bloomies, the younger, supposedly hipper cousin of the mainline department store (where I once worked for a New York minute)—I found plenty of product. Unlike Neiman’s, they weren’t empty.
But the quality? Decidedly lacking.
The merchandising was scattered, the experience haphazard, and nothing about it whispered luxury.
And while I was there, I ran into a former manager who awkwardly tried to sell me a $14,000 diamond necklace—on “special sale” for just over $4,000.
Wait—what?
Just the kind of impulse buy I was looking for while browsing the perfume department… not.
Legacy Retail: What Now?
It doesn’t take a sharp eye to see that retail is faltering.
The question is: will any of the legacy giants—Saks, Neiman’s, Bergdorf, Bloomingdale’s, even Nordstrom—be able to stay upright?
Because that beanstalk?
It’s swaying.