Neiman Marcus To Stay Closed Through April 30; Lays Off Workers

After closing its stores earlier this month because of the coronavirus pandemic, luxury fashion retailer Neiman Marcus will now have to furlough some of its workers until further notice, according to Bloomberg.

The company said the stores will stay closed at least through April 30, with much of the organization put on furlough or taking temporary salary reductions, according to CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck.

However, Neiman’s online marketplace will remain open, the company said.

Van Raemdonck said the previous action of closing the stores had been intended to mitigate health concerns of possibly spreading the virus. Now, employment-related actions have to be taken in order to deal with the coming fiscal shortfalls.

Van Raemdonck said he would not take any of his own salary for April, and other employees not furloughed will take pay cuts.

Neiman Marcus isn’t alone in having to cut back employees. Macy’s also announced that it would be furloughing most of its 130,000 employees. Those employees will still get health benefits through May, and some will stay on to work in the eCommerce and call center divisions.

SeaWorld Entertainment and The Cheesecake Factory have joined the ranks of companies furloughing employees, too, with SeaWorld furloughing around 90 percent of its employees and The Cheesecake Factory closing 27 locations and letting 41,000 people go on furlough.

Six Flags Entertainment has had to reduce pay, and the park will be closed at least through May. Numerous hotel companies like Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt have also furloughed workers as the pandemic drags on.

The U.S. now has more confirmed cases of the coronavirus than any other country in the world, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. As of Monday (March 30), there were more than 163,000 cases in the U.S. alone. The virus has killed more than 37,000 people worldwide.