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Neiman Marcus is turning up the volume on its sustainability efforts as more customers, particularly Millennials and Gen Zs, consider the environment and retail’s impact on society into account as they shop.
Neiman Marcus has started working with consultants to assess areas important to a luxury retailer, identify investment opportunities and come up with a strategy later this year.
The Dallas-based luxury retailer has formed a new team that is expected to infuse environmental considerations and sustainability into all parts of its business. The three-person team will set up task force groups across departments and will report to chief people officer Eric Severson and to the board on a quarterly basis.
Neiman Marcus CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck said the company is in the position to demonstrate what it looks like to be a luxury retailer embracing sustainability.
“Now more than ever, environmental sustainability is top of mind for the fashion and retail industries,” van Raemdonck said. “As the preeminent luxury customer platform, it’s our responsibility to take action and address sustainability issues for our associates, customers, investors and the future of our great company.”
The company is also highlighting its investment in pre-owned luxury handbags retailer Fashionphile and its mending and alterations business, a $10 million annual revenue stream.
Two years ago, Neiman Marcus purchased a minority stake in California-based Fashionphile, and it has since expanded the relationship with locations inside its store at NorthPark Center and four stores in California. So far, the collaboration has resulted in $16 million in resale merchandise, or 18,000 items that won’t go into a landfill.
Another 10 Fashionphile studios will open inside Neiman Marcus stores in Boca Raton, Fla., King of Prussia, Pa., Atlanta, Austin, Scottsdale, Ariz., San Antonio, Las Vegas, Canoga Park, Calif., Troy, N.Y., and Northbrook Ill. Neiman Marcus sales stylists will be able to start the resale process online with their customers.
Pitching mending and alternations, which is operated by 300 tailors, as a service that promotes sustainability may seem like a stretch, but van Raemdonck said it’s “a key driver of customer experience and loyalty with our top spend clients.”
In 2019, before the pandemic, its alterations departments worked on 320,000 items to mend holes, fix zippers and make intricate alterations to customize clothing. “Everything they do is designed to extend the life cycle of customers’ most loved items,” he said.
Online on both Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman websites, a section called “sustainable styles” features brands that are already involved in sustainable and environmental efforts.
The choices include Gowns by Chiara Boni La Petite, the first Italian brand to earn the European Union’s “product environmental footprint” certificate for water and energy uses, and a TSE men’s pullover hoodie made from recycled cashmere. Other brands include Stella McCartney, Kusshi and Eileen Fisher, a brand that was early to the sustainability movement with its “renew” program.
Eileen Fisher has taken back more than 1.5 million slightly used pieces since 2009 to be resold, donated or remade into new designs.
The sustainable styles section brings together “diverse and innovative sustainability approaches among brand partners and enable discerning customers to shop the product attributes they care about most,” said van Raemdonck.
Bain & Company, which issues an annual report on the luxury business, has been saying for a while that this segment of retail needs to focus on the environment and sustainability.
“Luxury players need to think boldly to rewrite the rules of the game, transforming their operations and redefining their purpose to meet new customer demands and retain their relevance, especially for younger generations, who are set to drive 180% of the growth in the market from 2019 to 2025,” Bain said in a report in January.
Younger generations place unprecedented emphasis on diversity and inclusion, in addition to sustainability and environmental issues, the report said, calling them “activist” consumers.