Neiman Marcus may be moving locations, but the retailer hopes its role in the community will stay the same.
The designs of the upcoming store at the Shops at Clearfork are not yet final. But officials with the retailer say the move won’t be changing their civic role in Fort Worth.
“In tradition with Neiman Marcus, we have been proud to serve in our community in many ways, whether it is our involvement in local charity organizations, or dressing the Fort Worth family,” said Allie Kobs, the Neiman Marcus Fort Worth public relations manager.
Throughout the years, Neiman Marcus has been actively involved in local Fort Worth charities and nonprofit organizations. It was the official jeweler of the 2014 Jewel Charity Ball, which raises funds for the creative artist-in-residence program of Cook Children’s Medical Center.
The Heart of Neiman Marcus Foundation also works with local youth to impact Fort Worth’s art education programs. In the fall of 2014, it provided funding for the Kimbell Art Museum’s Faces of Impressionism: Portraits from the Musée d’Orsay.
The foundation also recently made a pledge to support the Musical Awakenings youth education program of the Cliburn for the next three years.
In December, the luxury department store announced that it would leave its Ridgmar Mall location for the Clearfork development.
“For many years, Ridgmar has served as an easy and convenient location for many of our customers,” Kobs said. “As our lease concludes, it is with mixed emotions that we move on to our Clearfork location.”
Clearfork will be the third Fort Worth location for Neiman Marcus since it opened on Camp Bowie Boulevard in 1963 in what is now the Applied Learning Academy and the International Newcomer Academy.
Cassco Development Co. and Simon Property Group are developing the Shops at Clearfork in southwest Fort Worth between Hulen Street and Bryant Irvin Road.
“When we conceived the Clearfork master plan, we knew Neiman Marcus would be a perfect fit,” said Paxton Motheral, Cassco’s vice president. “The Shops at Clearfork will be an integral piece of the Clearfork vision as we continue to establish a true sense of community with places for people to live, work, shop and dine.”
The Shops at Clearfork will include 500,000 square feet of open-air retail, dining, living and office space alongside the Trinity River.
The 95,000 square-foot, two-story Neiman Marcus will be the only department store, along with 100 other luxury shops and a movie theater.
“We look forward to serving our loyal Fort Worth clients while attracting an entirely new customer when our beautiful Clearfork store opens in the spring of 2017,” said Karen Katz, president and CEO of The Neiman Marcus Group.
“We are confident it will define Neiman Marcus modernity for today’s customer.”
Construction on the project will begin this spring.
Bailey Kirby is a development reporter for The 109. Email her at [email protected].