The corporate that owns the enduring luxurious retailer Saks Fifth Avenue filed for chapter late Tuesday.
The transfer comes after Saks World struggled with debt it took on to purchase rival Neiman Marcus, lagging division retailer gross sales and a rising on-line market.
It is one of many largest retail collapses for the reason that Covid-19 pandemic, and casts additional doubt over the way forward for luxurious style.
The retailer, which additionally owns Bergdorf Goodman, mentioned early Wednesday its shops would stay open for now after it finalized a $1.75 billion financing bundle and appointed a brand new CEO.
The courtroom course of is supposed to present the luxurious retailer room to barter a debt restructuring with collectors or promote itself to a brand new proprietor to stave off liquidation. Failing that, the corporate could also be compelled to shutter.
Former Neiman Marcus CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck will substitute Richard Baker, who was the architect of the acquisition technique that left Saks World saddled with debt.
The corporate additionally appointed former Neiman Marcus executives Darcy Penick and Lana Todorovich as chief industrial officer and chief of worldwide model partnerships at Saks World, respectively.
Saks Fifth Avenue, the retail arm of Saks World, listed $1 billion to $10 billion in belongings and liabilities, in response to courtroom paperwork filed in U.S. Chapter Court docket in Houston, Texas.
A retailer lengthy beloved by the wealthy and well-known, from Gary Cooper to Grace Kelly, Saks fell on arduous instances after the pandemic, as competitors from on-line retailers rose, and types began extra regularly promoting objects via their very own shops.
The unique Saks Fifth Avenue retailer, recognized for displaying the likes of Chanel, Cucinelli and Burberry, was opened by retail pioneer Andrew Saks in 1867.
The brand new financing deal would offer an instantaneous money infusion of $1 billion via a mortgage from an investor group, Saks World mentioned.
A number of luxurious manufacturers have been among the many unsecured collectors, led by Chanel and Gucci proprietor Kering at about $136 million and $60 million respectively, the courtroom submitting mentioned. The world’s largest luxurious conglomerate, LVMH, was listed as an unsecured creditor at $26 million. In complete, Saks World estimated there have been between 10,001 and 25,000 collectors.
In 2024, Baker had masterminded the takeover of Neiman Marcus by Canada’s Hudson’s Bay Co, which had owned Saks since 2013, and later spun off the U.S. luxurious belongings to create Saks World, bringing collectively three names which have outlined American excessive style for over a century.
The deal was designed to create a luxurious powerhouse, however it saddled Saks World with debt at a time when international luxurious gross sales have been slowing, complicating an already troublesome turnaround for CEO and veteran government Marc Metrick.
Saks World struggled final 12 months to pay distributors, who started withholding stock, disrupting the corporate’s provide chain and leaving it with inadequate inventory.
The thinly stocked cabinets might have pushed consumers away to rivals like Bloomingdale’s, which posted robust gross sales in 2025, compounding stress on Saks World.
“Wealthy persons are nonetheless shopping for,” Morningstar analyst David Swartz mentioned final month, “simply not a lot at Saks.”
Operating out of money, Saks World final month offered the true property of the Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills flagship retailer for an undisclosed quantity. It had additionally been trying to promote a minority stake in unique division retailer Bergdorf Goodman to assist reduce debt.
On December 30, it didn’t make an curiosity fee of greater than $100 million to bondholders.
