Revenues for Neiman Marcus Inc. for the five weeks ended Oct. 4 were $415 million, an 11% decrease from the $466 million reported for the year-ago period. Same store sales for the retailer dropped 12.9% from $466 million in the year-ago period to $406 million.

 

Comparable revenues at Neiman Marcus Direct in the five-week September period increased 5.3%. The top selling merchandise categories in the direct marketing segment included women’s shoes and apparel and men’s.


“September was a challenging month for us given the country’s financial crisis, the impact of Hurricane Ike, as well as, difficult comparisons with last year’s 100th anniversary events,” said Burt Tansky, Chairman and CEO of the company.

 

“Based on our September performance and the current economic environment, we expect customer demand will remain weak for an extended period of time. As a result, we currently anticipate that our fall season gross margin will decline on a year over year basis and that inventory levels will be higher than planned. Our entire team is focused on stimulating sales, lowering inventory levels, reducing expenses and evaluating all capital projects.”