By Steve Pickett, Marvin Hurst
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DALLAS, Texas (KTVT) — It’s the end of an era for Neiman Marcus, as the Dallas-founded fashion retailer closed the doors to its flagship location in the heart of downtown on Wednesday evening.
The store’s closing, however, drew in plenty of shoppers in for one last look around, one final peek at the window displays, and perhaps one more meal inside the store’s Zodiac room.
For more than 100 years, the flagship Neiman Marcus store has been Dallas’ diamond of glamor, high fashion, and cultural significance. Jay Johnson grew up visiting it.
“My grandparents started bringing me in the 1970’s,” he told CBS News Texas. “It’s sad for such an iconic store.”
For Candace Jenkins, one final visit was a must.
“It’s sad. This dynamic and monumental store is closing,” she said.
“It is Dallas,” Johnson echoed. “When you read the history of the Marcus family, it’s been in downtown all these years. It’s part of the fabric of Dallas.”
Woven into Dallas history Neiman Marcus is not leaving Dallas; it’s just closing down the Main Street location, where it’s been since 1914. The company’s NorthPark Center location remains open.
Michael Hazel, a Dallas historian, has chronicled much of the city’s history for decades. He said that, for much of the 20th century, the city embraced the work of the fashion staple’s leader, Stanley Marcus, credited for stitching and weaving in civic pride with high-fashion grace and style at the flagship store.
“It was always iconic in Dallas,” Hazel said. “Neiman was the last to stay, who stuck it out, who stayed downtown.”
“It was the reputation of Neiman Marcus,” Hazel added, “and at that time, the focus was on the downtown store, because it was the only one, it was.”
For years, the Downtown Dallas flagship has struggled. But beyond that, it was the image of Dallas taste and flair, a destination site for world visitors.
And on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026, customers and admirers gave the downtown icon one final farewell.
“It’s a staple. It’s a staple of downtown Dallas,” Laura Ramirez said. “So to see it go, it saddens me.”
Inside, the history remained visible.
The building’s seven floors include architectural details preserved across generations, from its elevators and walls to Art Deco clocks.
Customer Jon McClellan said much of what made the flagship distinctive could easily be missed from the sidewalk.
“I think that this specific store has some architecture that, unless you go inside, you don’t get a chance to appreciate,” McClellan said.
Fashion filmmaker and historian Hayley Chow sees the store as something even larger — a piece of Dallas’ cultural identity.
“And so to me, this Neiman’s is our Tiffany’s to New York City,” Chow said.
Over the decades, the store was associated with fashion and Hollywood figures including Grace Kelly, James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and Sophia Loren, she said.
Chow worries that history could disappear along with the store.
“My generation, I’m a millennial, doesn’t care enough,” she said. “And I feel like this is not public knowledge to my generation.”
Generations of Dallas memories For many customers, the loss is less about luxury retail than family tradition.
Amber Pickens remembers her mother bringing her downtown for the Neiman Marcus parade, visits with Santa, trips to the Zodiac Room and photographs in front of the Christmas tree.
“Definitely joy,” Pickens said.
Those experiences, she said, are part of a Dallas history worth preserving and passing on.
“Dallas loses a lot of history when we don’t keep these historic landmarks up,” Pickens said. “When we don’t keep it up and keep telling these stories, then the next generation doesn’t know.”
What happens to the Neiman Marcus building now? With the store closed, attention turns to what becomes of the historic downtown property.
The future of the seven-story building remains one of the biggest questions following the closure.
“To be honest, the whole time I was sitting in there, I was a little curious, what are they going to do with this?” McClellan said. “What do you go ahead and repurpose this for if it’s not going to be for a department store?”
For now, the building remains — along with more than a century of memories inside it.
On its final day, pipers played bagpipes and walked around the outside of the building as customers and employees made their way out one last time.
A black-tie crooner belted out “My Way,” and the store closed down after 6 p.m. This time, when the doors closed behind them, Neiman Marcus in Downtown Dallas was closed for good.
The changing fabric of downtown The closing of the flagship Neiman Marcus store is just one example of the season of change underway in Downtown Dallas, something observed by visitor Charlotte Jenkins.
“Sometimes, it’s just time to move,” she said. “Downtown has to move faster, be more competitive, so we can attract the next wave of growth.”
Downtown Dallas Inc. shared a status report on Wednesday morning, focusing on how the city’s center is being re-imagined. The organization promotes and pushes development downtown. Its vision for the urban core involves reinvesting in the soon-to-be-vacated AT&T headquarters as the telecom giant moves to a new campus in Plano.
The organization also says a mix of new life can be expected for buildings like the city’s highest skyscraper: the Bank of America building. Additionally, Downtown Dallas Inc. said there will be additions to the residential part of downtown, which should lead to more people living there. Chris Beynon, an urban planner, says these plans are about “ultimately doubling the downtown population”.
“Reimagining our downtown economy has to be in these spaces,” he said, “where we are thinking about the future, all of these things.”
Richard Marvin is one of the more than 100,000 or so people who work or live in the downtown area. He believes downtown is still a core asset for Dallas.
“I think as it becomes more of a residential area, with businesses moving in like Y’all Street, this is key infrastructure that will be used in ways,” he said.
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