Goodbye, Downtown Minneapolis...

Awning at the Minneapolis Neiman Marcus store (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

We're announcing with some sadness the July 2013 closing of the 118,000 sq ft Neiman Marcus store in Downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota,. This comes after the closing of the full-line Saks Fifth Avenue store in Downtown Minneapolis in January 2005.

We have a soft spot for Downtown Minneapolis. During our formative years, Minneapolis sparkled with such great department stores as Dayton's, Donaldson's and later Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. We got some of our first tastes of glamour strolling the Louis Vuitton, Oval Room luxury salon and Chanel boutiques at Dayton's, the glamorous escalators of the multi-floor Saks, and the subdued elegance of Neimans. 

After Neiman Marcus closes, all that will be left in Downtown Minneapolis is Macy's in the former Dayton's space. Sure it has Vuitton and The Oval Room, but it lacks the class and customer service of its former Dayton's nameplate. 

This is yet another sad decline not only in American retailing, but with American cities in general. All but a handful of American cities continue to maintain vibrant downtowns, and we wave goodbye to Minneapolis as it has now become just another American city with a downtown devoid of decent retailing. 

We'll remember our youth in Minneapolis, and continue visiting the more vibrant urban centres in Europe and Canada. Minneapolis, it was nice while it lasted...

Neiman Marcus website:www.neimanmarcus.com

Saks Fifth Avenue website: www.saks.com

Macy's website: www.macys.com

Exterior of Neiman Marcus, Minneapolis (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

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