The luxury department store chain Neiman Marcus has filed for bankruptcy after being consumed by debts and a cash box drained by the coronavirus pandemic. The company had been forced to put nearly all of its 14,000 workers on furlough and close its entire network of stores. “Like most businesses today, we are facing unprecedented disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has placed inexorable pressure on our business,” CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck said in a statement, which outlined a deal with its biggest creditors. “The binding agreement from our creditors gives us additional liquidity to operate the business during the pandemic and the financial flexibility to accelerate our transformation. We will emerge a far stronger company.” The department store sector was already under tremendous pressure, but the COVID-19 pandemic could be the ton of straw that breaks the backs of the weakest players. Macy’s has made the news in recent days as has J.C. Penney, which is thought to be close to declaring bankruptcy.
