Neiman Marcus Group

With even super-affluent shoppers tightening their Gucci belts, luxury retailer Neiman Marcus Group Inc. unveiled its Christmas Book with a nod to this new frugality. More than 40% of the gifts in the catalog's 83rd edition cost less than $250.

Shareholders of Carter Hawley Hale Stores on Wednesday overwhelmingly put their stamp of approval on the Los Angeles retailer's plan to split into two companies.

WHERE would we be without Neiman Marcus? Without the opportunity to buy a $35-million Boeing jet, a personal dirigible, a pair of camels or his and hers action figures in the buyers' likenesses -- and all at your neighborhood department store? And where would we be without 39 of these stores nationwide, each bearing the unmistakable NM logo that has come to symbolize everything that's garish and elegant, extravagant and outlandish?

Two fancy mail-order businesses would join forces under a tentative deal announced Thursday, with Neiman-Marcus Group acquiring the Horchow Mail Order business for an undisclosed sum. Horchow, a privately held Dallas company started by a former Neiman Marcus employee, sells elegant household linens and gift items through the Horchow Collection as well as a broader range of merchandise through its Trifles catalogue and discounted close-out items through the Grand Finale catalogue.

Wall Street's latest glamour company got its unveiling Thursday with the first extensive details of the new Neiman-Marcus Group that will emerge later this summer. The specialty store company is being formed as part of a proposed restructuring of Los Angeles retailer Carter Hawley Hale Stores, on which shareholders will vote Aug. 26.

Allen I. Questrom, the highly regarded former chairman of Bullock's and Bullocks Wilshire, on Friday was formally named president and chief executive of Neiman Marcus, the prestigious Dallas-based specialty store chain. At the same time, Richard C. Marcus, grandson of one of the chain's co-founders, announced his resignation as chairman and chief executive.

Wet Seal Inc., which specializes in apparel for young women, said Monday that it has agreed to purchase the Contempo Casuals women's clothing chain for $1 million in stock, nearly tripling the number of stores Wet Seal owns nationwide. The company is buying the 239-store chain from Neiman Marcus Group Inc. of Chestnut Hill, Mass., which had closed 50 Contempo sites last year because of poor sales. The transaction is expected to be completed at the end of May.

Neiman Marcus Group Inc. shareholders approved the $5.1-billion sale of the luxury retailer to buyout firms Texas Pacific Group and Warburg Pincus, which plan to expand the company as demand for designer goods surges.

Neiman Marcus Group Inc. shareholders approved the $5.1-billion sale of the luxury retailer to buyout firms Texas Pacific Group and Warburg Pincus, which plan to expand the company as demand for designer goods surges.

Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus Group Inc. has neared an agreement to be acquired by two private equity firms for about $5 billion, sources familiar with the situation said Sunday. Buyout firms Texas Pacific Group and Warburg Pincus won the auction with a bid that valued the Dallas-based department store chain at about $100 a share, sources said. The other bidders included the team of Bain Capital and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., and a group that included the Blackstone Group and Thomas H.

Neiman Marcus Group Inc. got bids from three buyout groups by its deadline, people familiar with matter said. Neiman Marcus received offers from three investment groups: Blackstone Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners; Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Bain Capital; and Texas Pacific Group and Warburg Pincus, people involved with all of the groups said. The board of Dallas-based Neiman Marcus will meet over the weekend to consider the offers.

Capitalizing on a white-hot luxury market, Neiman Marcus -- the department store chain whose name is synonymous with status shopping -- said Wednesday that it might put itself up for sale. Neiman Marcus Group Inc. said that it was "exploring various strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value," including selling itself, but that it might end up doing nothing. The retailer's stock jumped on the news, as investors considered the prospect of a bidding war for the firm.

A Neiman Marcus department store will be added to Westfield Shoppingtown Topanga as part of a $300-million upgrade of the Canoga Park mall, the owners announced Tuesday. The store will be 120,000 square feet, according to Westfield Group, a Sydney, Australia-based company that owns 26 malls in California. It will be the fourth Neiman Marcus store in Southern California and the 36th in the country for the Dallas-based fashion specialty retailer.

Upscale department-store retailer Neiman Marcus Group Inc. said fiscal third-quarter profit rose 67% as sales registered their biggest gain in almost eight years and the company controlled costs. Net income rose to $68.8 million, or $1.40 a share, meeting expectations, from $41.1 million, or 87 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 21% to $878 million, the Dallas-based company said. Chief Executive Burton Tansky is selling more goods at full price and reducing inventory.

With even super-affluent shoppers tightening their Gucci belts, luxury retailer Neiman Marcus Group Inc. unveiled its Christmas Book with a nod to this new frugality. More than 40% of the gifts in the catalog's 83rd edition cost less than $250.

Saks Inc said fourth-quarter profit rose 26% as the company reduced costs by combining divisions and eliminating jobs. Net income increased to $68.1 million, or 47 cents a share. Sales fell 3.7% to $1.84 billion. Neiman Marcus Group Inc. said its fiscal second-quarter earnings surged 34% to $32.5 million, or 68 cents a share. Sales rose 3.3% to $938.5 million.