Neiman Marcus Rebranding Contemporary Department to be Cusp; Not Closing Cusp in Water Tower Just Yet

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All of Neiman Marcus' contemporary departments are changing. They're being renamed Cusp, expanding by 20-25%, stocking a few more lines, have new mannequins, music, shopping bags, different dress code for employees and sport a brighter, younger aesthetic. In an exclusive interview with WWD, Jim Gold, president of specialty retail for Neiman's said this is like creating "an extremely large shop-in-shop"

Since its conception in 2006, Neiman’s has only 6 Cusp stores with two accessible to Chicagoans; Water Tower Place and Northbrook. By October, all Neiman Marcus stores will have converted their Contemporary departments to Cusp including Michigan Ave which has just started a major renovation which will be complete in 2014.

As for the existing Cusp store less than two blocks away on level 2 in Water Tower, it'll stay open. At least for the time being. It's not a bad thing to have a dense concentration of Rebecca Minkoff and Pour la Victoire on 'The Avenue', is it? Though Neiman's says they don't have any plans to open additional freestanding boutiques, according to Cusp Water Tower, they don't have any plans to close freestanding stores either.
· Neiman Marcus to Relaunch Cusp [WWD]
· Neiman Marcus [Official Site]
· Cusp [Official Site]