Dish-Houston

Well, it is owned by the same company that owns 99 Cents Only Stores. A Los Angeles private equity firm and Canada’s largest public pension fund announced this week that they are buying Dallas-based Neiman Marcus Group for $6 billion.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Ares Management LLC now have both extremes of household incomes covered: In 2011, they paid $1.55 billion to buy 99 Cents Only Stores.

The two entities will hold an equal interest in the retailer, and Neiman Marcus management, led by CEO Karen Katz, will retain a minority stake. The sale is expected to go through in the fourth quarter.

Neiman Marcus hasn’t been owned by the founding family since the late 1980s.

Founded in Dallas in 1907, the company operates 41 Neiman Marcus stores, two Bergdorf Goodman locations, 36 Last Call stores and six Cusp stores. Its upscale online retailing division operates under the Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Last Call and Horchow brands.

Except for the novelty of knowing that about 18 million retirees north of the border own a piece of the venerable luxury chain, customers shouldn’t see any changes, the company said.

“If there had not been press coverage of this, the customer would never know anything had changed,” Neiman Marcus vice president Ginger Reeder said.

Fort Worth-based TPG and New York-based Warburg Pincus have owned Neiman Marcus since 2005 as part of a $5.1 billion leveraged buyout. They were entertaining private buyers while the company was proceeding with plans for an initial public offering of stock.

Bloomberg News estimates that the two buyout firms have reaped a 150 percent profit on their combined $1.2 billion initial investment in Neiman Marcus. The firms are expected to receive about $2.75 billion in the sale on top of $400 million they got last year in the form of a one-time dividend.

Part of the purchase price will be used at closing to repay about $2.7 billion in debt. But that doesn’t mean the company will be debt-free.

Between now and closing, a new capital structure with new debt will be ironed out, Neiman Marcus chief operating officer Jim Skinner said. “There’s still a lot of work to do.”

Even if the company had issued stock to the public, those funds would have gone to TPG and Warburg Pincus, and the retail company would have still had $2.7 billion in debt.

There are no plans yet to open a Canadian Neiman Marcus store. Canadians have been able to shop at Neiman Marcus online for several years.

Ok Houston! Tonight is the night and there are events all over town!

You can start at either Elaine Turner stores (Rice Village or CityCenter) from 6-9 pm for cocktails, snacks and discounts PLUS the preview of her new fall line which DISH is madly in love with, by the way!

From 5-8 pm at the Galleria most of the high end specialty stores will be rolling out the red carpet to show you the fall 2011 preview! If you were lucky enough to score an invite that is...all of the parties are private! However, there is one way the general public can participate and that is the Simon NOW Fashion show on the ice rink in the middle of the Galleria! The show will introduce looks from Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, CH Carolina Herrera, Fendi, Jimmy Choo, MaxMara, St. John and Tiffany & Co. Immediately following the show, Gigi's Asian Bistro & Dumpling Bar will host an official post-show party.

To get the feel of the night and get you in the fashion mood...here is a video of the Simon Fashion Now 2011 Spring show so you can have an idea of the fashion fun you can have on the ice rink at the Galleria tonight!

Super affluent shoppers have been tightening their Gucci belts over the past year forcing luxury retailer Neiman Marcus Group Inc. unveiled its Christmas Book Tuesday with a nod to frugality.

More than 40 percent of the gifts in the catalog's 83rd edition cost less than $250! This list includes another change in the famed holiday catalogue...practical items! Don't misunderstand, prices are still out of reach for the average American. New items include $75 plaid stockings, $235 Italian wool scarves, $100 Ugg slippers, $175 cases for iPhones and $250 Ralph Lauren rain boots.

"Tokens of affection don't have to be extravagant to be brilliantly received," the book's introduction imparts.

Extravagant gifts still abound giving shoppers an escape from the tumult in the financial world. There are limited-edition $105,000 Jaguars, motorcycles for $73,000 and DISH favorite a $25,000 "Cupcake Car" custom-made of colorful fabric, wood and sheet metal and powered by a 24-volt electric motor.

Neiman's is not forgetting the GREENIES, there's an eco-friendly chandelier made of 366 plastic bottles rescued from the landfill. Yours for just $12,000. Forget the fact that you can make your own for 12 dollars!

The Dallas-based chain and its luxury competitors are being forced to adjust their inventory and prices as their well-heeled clients splurge less since the financial meltdown ballooned last fall. While luxury stores' sales have stopped falling in recent months, they remain weak to say the least.

Neiman Marcus, privately held since 2005, reported last month that its fiscal fourth-quarter loss widened compared with a year earlier as revenue fell 26 percent and consumers kept a lid on their spending. For the quarter that ended Aug. 1, the retailer reported a loss of $168.5 million, compared with a loss of $35.6 million a year earlier. Revenue fell to $768.1 from $1.03 billion last year.

For the full fiscal year — as revenue fell 21 percent to $3.64 billion from $4.6 billion — the retailer lost $668 million, compared with a profit of $142.8 million a year earlier.

P.S. DISH wants to e Ralph Lauren Rain Boots and the Cupcake Car. Just and FYI =)

Thanks to DISH friend Anna Wintour...actually we just sat behind her and snuck pics of her at the River Oaks International Tennis Tourney...but hey you take it where you can get it....The fashion world is getting a HUGE boost tonight!

In Fashion's Night Out hundreds of stores around the world will stay open late for the single largest shopping event in history! Designers were there, free food and drinkie poos, discounts and gifts with purchaces all in an effort to boost the economy and help to rebuild the lagging fashion industry.

Thanks to Vogue US and Vogue International the global initiative is to promote retail, restore consumer confidence, and celebrate fashion. The evening extravaganzas in their respective world fashion capitals went off without a hitch! There were brow bars, hair cut stations, make overs, limited edition jewelry and so much more!!

Houston had a show at Neiman Marcus and it was FABOOSH!! =)

See?? The Devil apparently isn't all that bad!