Neiman Marcus is reportedly leaving the upscale New York City Hudson Yards shopping center as it undergoes bankruptcy proceedings. The department store retailer had an opening party complete with a Liza Minnelli show just about a year ago for the expansive new retail location on the West Side of Manhattan, CNBC reported.
A representative for Neiman Marcus said per the report that the retailer is shuttering the Hudson Yards store permanently in addition to locations in Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale as well as across the country in Bellevue, Washington.
“A physical location in Hudson Yards is no longer an ideal space for us given the preponderance of restaurants and future office space in that mall,” the representative said per the report.
The representative also noted the retailer is “always assessing our store footprint to ensure it is optimal to enhance revenues, overall profitability, and our integrated retail strategy.”
Oxford Properties Group and Related Cos., two of the biggest real estate developers globally, constructed Hudson Yards. Related has been seeking to have the retailer’s space used for offices.
A representative for Related said in a statement to the outlet that the vacancy provides the chances to make office space with “the largest floor plates available in New York City, a private ground floor entrance, and 18 foot high ceilings at 20 Hudson Yards.”
The news comes after Neiman Marcus filed for bankruptcy amid the ongoing great resettling for retail. On May 7, the retailer said it had come into a binding agreement “with a significant majority of our creditors to undergo a financial restructuring that will substantially reduce the Company’s debt load, and provide access to considerable financing to ensure business continuity.”
A statement from Neiman Marcus CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck said the filing would not impact plans for retail locations to open again.