Seven years ago, former Mayor Tom Murphy tried in vain to court upscale retailer Neiman Marcus Downtown. But it may be the East End that finally lands the name.

Herky Pollock, an executive vice president for real estate brokerage CB Richard Ellis/Pittsburgh, said Tuesday that he's in discussions with the Dallas-based retailer about bringing a new concept store to the Bakery Square development in Larimer.

"I would say they are strongly interested, as are we, in having them open up a store in the next year," Mr. Pollock said.

The store would be the second of its kind in the country, he said. Neiman Marcus opened the first last month in upscale University Park, Texas. Mr. Pollock said the store blends traditional Neiman Marcus merchandise with that sold at its Last Call clearance centers. The retailer is considering a store in the 17,000- to 20,000-square-foot range for Pittsburgh, he said.

"It's a smaller format that caters more toward locations that can't accommodate a full-blown department store," he said.

Todd Reidbord, president of Walnut Capital, the Bakery Square developer, said the store would offer the same brands and names as a traditional Neiman Marcus but perhaps ones that were overstocked or didn't sell well.

He said company officials spent about two hours at Bakery Square during a visit last week and seemed to be impressed with the location.

"It's not a done deal but it's something they indicated they have an interest in," he said, adding that company officials like "the idea of locating stores in communities that have a lot of residential rooftops around them."

Mr. Pollock said he hoped to have an answer from the retailer within the next few weeks. "They're making their final analysis right now and it's looking fairly promising," he said.

In an e-mail, Melinda Lee, a Neiman Marcus spokeswoman, said the retailer had not announced any store openings for Pittsburgh and had no other information beyond that.

Nonetheless, the East End could have a bit of an in with the retailer. Neiman Marcus CEO Burton Tansky grew up here, graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and got his start as an assistant buyer for Kaufmann's department store in Pittsburgh. He is scheduled to retire in October.

Neiman Marcus is the latest luxury retailer to look for ways to reach wider audiences.

Saks Fifth Avenue is opening an Off 5th store at the Tanger Outlet Center in Washington County at the end of May as it expands its outlet chain. Nordstrom also has been developing more Rack outlet locations across the country and Bloomingdale's plans to start a new outlet concept later this year.

The Neiman Marcus concept store would be the latest retailer to join the Bakery Square line-up. Mr. Pollock said retailer Anthropologie, which sells women's apparel, is set to open in about six weeks. Urban Active Fitness and Coffee Tree Roasters are expected to open in June. Verizon also has signed a lease to open a store at Bakery Square, Mr. Reidbord said.

Google is moving its Pittsburgh offices to the $150 million complex in August.

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