The Dallas-based high-end Neiman Marcus chain has paid about €150 million to take over Germany E-Commerce site MYTheresa.com, along with the E-Commerce operation’s flagship store in Munich.
“The luxury customer is bouncing back – not at brick-and-mortar, but online,” retail analyst Hitha Prabhakar told Fox Business. “So Neiman Marcus is keen to that and is starting to snap up properties for the online business.”
Neiman Marcus has been struggling a bit lately, with the chain last week reporting a net loss of $42.1 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal-year 2014, compared to net earnings of $2.9 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal-year 2013. For the full fiscal year 2014, Neiman Marcus reported a net loss of $147.2 million, down from net earnings of $163.7 million the year earlier.
“In October, 2013, Neiman Marcus was acquired by an investor group affiliated with Ares Management, L.P. and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board,” the story said. “Significant debt was taken on as part of the sale process.”
Prabhakar said that Neiman Marcus “isn’t exactly leading the pack when it comes to online innovation,” the story said, quoting Prabhaker saying: “To be honest, I think they’re a little late to the game. Are they on the cutting-edge of trying to acquire international and online customers? No, but luxury is bouncing back and they’re not so far behind that they won’t be able to catch up.”
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