Neiman Marcus 2009 Annual Report Download - page 7

Table of Contents
Recent Developments
On September 2, 2010, we announced preliminary total revenues and comparable revenues of approximately $250 million
and $248 million, respectively, for the four-week period ended August 28, 2010. In the four-week August period of fiscal year 2011,
total revenues increased 3.9% and comparable revenues increased 2.9% compared to the four-week August period of fiscal year 2010.
Comparable revenues increased 2.7% in our Specialty Retail stores and increased 3.6% in our Direct Marketing operation for the four-
week August period of fiscal year 2011.
All the financial data set forth above for the four-week period ending August 28, 2010 are preliminary and unaudited and
subject to revision based upon our review and a review by our independent registered public accounting firm of our financial condition
and results of operations for the quarter ending October 30, 2010. Once we and our independent registered public accounting firm
have completed our respective reviews of our financial information for the quarter ending October 30, 2010, we may report financial
results that are different from those set forth above.
Industry Overview
We operate in the luxury apparel and accessories segment of the U.S. retail industry and market and sell merchandise from
luxury-branded fashion vendors, including, but not limited to, Chanel, Gucci, Prada, Giorgio Armani, St. John, David Yurman,
Christian Louboutin, Ermenegildo Zegna, Manolo Blahnik and Loro Piana. Luxury-branded fashion vendors typically manage the
distribution and marketing of their merchandise to maximize the perception of brand exclusivity and to facilitate the sale of their
goods at premium prices, including limitations on the number of retail locations through which they distribute their merchandise.
These retail locations typically consist of a limited number of specialty stores, high-end department stores and, in some instances,
vendor-owned proprietary boutiques. Retailers that compete with us for the distribution of luxury fashion brands include Saks Fifth
Avenue, Nordstrom, Barney's New York and other national, regional and local retailers.
Customer Service and Marketing
We are committed to providing our customers with a premier shopping experience through our relationship-based customer
service model, with superior merchandise selection and elegant store settings. Critical elements to our customer service approach are:
• knowledgeable, professional and well-trained sales associates;
• marketing programs designed to promote customer awareness of our offerings of the latest fashion trends;
• loyalty programs designed to cultivate long-term relationships with our customers; and
• facilitating the extension of credit to our customers through a proprietary credit card program.
We believe we offer our customers fair and liberal return policies consistent with the practices of other luxury and specialty
retailers. We believe these policies help to cultivate long-term relationships with our customers.
Sales Associates. We seek to maintain a sales force of knowledgeable, professional and well-trained sales associates to
deliver personal attention and service to our customers through our relationship-based customer service model. We compensate our
sales associates primarily on a commission basis and provide them with training in the areas of customer service, selling skills and
product knowledge. Our sales associates participate in active clienteling programs designed to maintain contact with our customers
between store visits and to ensure that our customers are aware of the latest merchandise offerings and fashion trends that we present
in our stores. We empower our sales associates to act as personal shoppers and, in many cases, as the personal style advisor to our
customers.
Marketing Programs. We conduct a wide variety of marketing programs to support our sales associates in the
communication of fashion trends to our customers in order to create fashion excitement and enhance our customer relationships. The
programs include both in-store events and targeted, brand-consistent print media communications.
We maintain an active calendar of in-store events to promote our sales efforts. The activities include in-store promotions of
the merchandise of selected designers or merchandise categories, often through events conducted in connection with our loyalty
programs, in-store visits and trunk shows by leading designers featuring the newest fashions from the designer,
4