Neiman Marcus Gives Big Charity Boost with Christmas Book Announcement

By: Oct. 11, 2013
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Neiman Marcus announced that it has realigned the bulk of its annual multimillion-dollar fund for charity. The luxury retailer created a new namesake nonprofit to support arts education for youth. The announcement came at their annual Christmas Book launch, which heralds the Heart of Neiman Marcus Foundation by giving a portion of sales of eight marquee fantasty gifts to their charity.

They are making a bigger push for charity on November 20th. All 41 Neiman Marcus stores will open pop-up shops of holiday gifts and 10 percent of the sales will go to select local groups that provide arts education to kids.

The impetus to support arts experiences for children was chief executive officer Karen Katz's idea, said Ginger Reeder, vice president of corporate communication.

"Exposure to the arts is a luxury that often requires specific access to enjoy," Reeder said. "Yet we know that engagement with the arts, especially for youth, can impact educational performance and creativity while paying dividends in community health. The need is great and spans many communities, and Neiman Marcus' national presence has us well poised for impact."

"If you think about it, any of the hot designers we carry now learned about the arts in public school or in their local communities," said John Koryl, president of Neiman Marcus Direct. "We want to make sure we continue to grow the arts."

This is the first change to Neiman's charitable strategy since 1907, Reeder noted.

"Every market and every store has its own charitable giving budget and they do what their customers are interested in, what's best for their specific community, which is great, but we've never had anything to hang it all together," Reeder explained. "This gives us that, and Neiman Marcus will get some credit for doing something good."


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