Dive Brief:

• Luxury retailers are finding they are operating too many physical stores in an increasingly digital world, A&G Realty founder and co-president Andy Graiser told CNBC. Persistent headwinds like the strong dollar and changing preferences make those stores an expensive proposition.

• Luxury sales are slowing, growing just 1% to 2% last year, compared to 3% in 2014 and 7% in 2013, according to Bain and Co. 

• Yet, in a move indicative of physical stores' importance in luxury, Neiman Marcus is set to open a new store in the posh Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island this weekend. The department store retailer, like its rivals, has struggled of late, with Q1 same-store sales falling 5.6%. The retailer sees some 27% of sales online, quite robust for a department store. 

Dive Insight:

The luxury market is facing the same headwinds working against most all retail, including changing spending priorities. 

Younger consumers are especially prone to spending on experiences over stuff, according to a PwC survey published last year, which found that millennials said that more than half (52%) of their holiday spending would be experience-related, compared to 39% for older consumers.

Happiness gurus and psychology researchers in recent years have been touting experiences, even modest ones, as a rewarding way to spend time and money, and consumers, even luxury ones, are apparently taking that to heart.

But luxury retail is also hit harder by the dollar’s current strength, which is making goods more expensive for tourists here and international customers abroad, and many well-heeled consumers are reining in spending as global markets show continued volatility and weakness, hitting their portfolios hard and clouding their prospects.