Another big retailer joins the growing list of stores shedding staff amid fears of more closures

ANOTHER major American retailer has announced a series of layoffs amid the Main Street retail apocalypse.

High-end department store chain Neiman Marcus is cutting its workforce by 5 percent (around 500 employees) as the company tries to shake things up to weather the economic downturn.

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The layoffs come as cash-strapped Americans cut spending and retailers feel the strain of rising manufacturing costs and a looming recession.

At the start of the pandemic, the company filed for Chapter 11 — also known as “reorganization bankruptcy” — and has shifted its strategic vision to wooing the rich.

Geoffrey van Raemdonck, CEO of the store’s parent company, told Fortune, “We’ve decided that we’re no longer about market share, and we no longer want to sell across the price spectrum, from clearance sales to high-end jewelry.”

“The business value of this approach is that we get to know our customers better. The economic value is that I avoid churn and price is no longer the primary consideration.”

Raemdonck’s new plan is to focus on the jet set rich and hold them down.

Neiman Marcus and its sister company, Bergdorf Goodman, already have the kind of clientele they need — two percent of its customers make 40 percent of their sales, and 80 percent of those are millionaires.

Amid the downsizing, other changes will see Chief Product & Technology Officer Bob Kupbens leaving the company and Neiman Marcus President Ryan Ross now leading Customer Insights.

Now dubbed the “retail apocalypse,” monsters are banging against the wall in the retail industry as supply chain issues, inflation and pandemic-era spending cuts plague the sector.

Amazon announced in January that it would cut its workforce by 18,000 – the largest round of layoffs in the retail giant’s history.

Major housewares retailer Bed Bath & Beyond has made headlines as it struggles to stay afloat after a turbulent year.

In September, the company closed 150 stores and laid off 20 percent of its employees. By the end of November 2022, the company had reported nine months of net losses and accumulated $1 billion in debt by year-end.

Now its bosses have admitted they cannot make the company’s Canadian operations profitable and have filed for bankruptcy.

Around 54 Bed Bath & Beyond stores will close and the embattled retailer will also close its 11 Buy Buy Baby stores.

Even superstore Walmart will close 10 stores through March 10, while Aldi has closed its doors in Chicago and Minneapolis.

Resale company The Real Real will cut 7 percent of its workforce (230 employees) and close its flagship stores in San Francisco and Chicago.

Stitch Fix, the online personal styling service, laid off 1,700 employees in January.

The waves of these apocalyptic decisions are surging to the top, where the CEOs of top retail outlets are dropping like flies.

Ten major retailers including Gap Inc, Adidas and Footlocker must fill their top spot after companies were forced to shake up their leadership to adopt new strategies in an era of retail chaos.

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