Jan. 14, 2026 "Saks Global files for bankruptcy after Neiman Marcus takeover leads to financial collapse": Today I found this article on CBC:
High-end department store conglomerate Saks Global filed for bankruptcy protection late on Tuesday, in one of the largest retail collapses since the pandemic.
It comes barely a year after a deal intended to create a luxury powerhouse brought
Saks Fifth Avenue,
Bergdorf Goodman
and Neiman Marcus
under the same roof.
The filing cast uncertainty over the future of the iconic U.S. luxury fashion brand,
though Saks said early on Wednesday that its stores would remain open for now,
after it finalized a $1.75-billion US financing package and appointed a new chief executive.
Long loved by the rich and famous, Saks never fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic,
as competition from online outlets rose,
and brands started selling more items through their own stores.
The company struggled last year to pay vendors, who began withholding inventory.
Former Neiman Marcus department store chain CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck will replace Richard Baker, the architect of the acquisition strategy that saddled Saks Global with debt.
Baker, the executive chairman, had just stepped into the CEO role at the start of the year.
Saks Global's assets and liabilities are estimated to be in a range of $1 billion to $10 billion, according to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston, Texas.
The original Saks Fifth Avenue store, known for carrying exclusive brands like Chanel, Cucinelli and Burberry, as well as for its Christmas light shows, was opened by retail pioneer Andrew Saks in 1867.
The court process is meant to give the luxury retailer room to negotiate
a debt restructuring with creditors
or find a new owner.
Failing that, the company may be forced to shutter. The company, in its filing, said demand is not the problem.
"The company's challenges are tied to
inventory availability
and vendor confidence,
not underlying demand for luxury goods," it said in the filing.
Neiman Marcus deal added debt
The Neiman Marcus deal added debt at a time when global luxury sales were slowing.
"In a market where luxury brands are moving direct-to-consumer
and shoppers expect personalization and speed,
that [merger] was always going to fail,"
said Brittain Ladd, a strategy and supply chain consultant at Florida-based Chang Robotics.
Saks Global, which has about 17,000 employees, raised $600 million US and restructured debt in mid-2025 to deal with its financial woes.
Persistent missed vendor payments
and inventory disruptions
left the company with severe liquidity constraints heading into 2026,
it said.
The thinly stocked shelves may have driven shoppers away to rivals like
Bloomingdale's, which reported strong sales in 2025,
compounding pressure on Saks Global.
"Rich people are still buying," Morningstar analyst David Swartz said last month,
"just not so much at Saks."
Running out of cash, Saks Global sold the real estate of the Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills flagship store last month for an undisclosed amount.
It had also been looking to sell a minority stake in exclusive department store Bergdorf Goodman to help cut debt.
Financing deal
The new financing deal would provide an immediate cash infusion of $1 billion through a debtor-in-possession loan from an investor group, Saks Global said.
Financing worth $240 million would be available through an asset-backed loan provided by the company's asset-based lenders, according to the company.
The luxury retailer will have access to $500 million of financing from the investor group
once it successfully exits bankruptcy protection,
expected later this year, Saks Global said.
Several luxury brands were among the unsecured creditors, led by Chanel, with about $136 million, and Gucci owner Kering with $60 million, the court filing said. The world’s biggest luxury conglomerate, LVMH, was listed as an unsecured creditor at $26 million. In total, Saks Global estimated there were between 10,001 and 25,000 creditors.
Paris-based Kering, which also owns such brands as Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, declined to comment. Chanel, LVMH and Richemont did not respond to requests for comment.
"For the broader luxury industry, this accelerates an existing trend:
brands will reduce reliance on department stores,
tighten wholesale exposure
and prioritize owned channels
and curated partnerships,"
Ladd said.
In 2024, Richard Baker 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. luxury assets to create Saks Global,
bringing together three names that have defined American high fashion for more than a century.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/saks-bankruptchy-protection-9.7044718
Jan. 14, 2026 "Luxury retailer Saks seeks bankruptcy protection overwhelmed by debt": Today I found this article by Anne D’innocenzio and Elaine Kurtenbach on BNN Bloomberg:
The owner of Saks Fifth Avenue is seeking bankruptcy protection,
buffeted by rising competition
and the massive debt it took on to buy its rival in the luxury sector, Neiman Marcus,
just over a year ago.
Saks Global has secured roughly US$1.75 billion in financing, the New York company said as filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Wednesday in the Southern District of Texas.
The private company said that stores will remain open as it restructures company debt, meaning that it will honor the programs it has for customers. Suppliers and employees will be paid, Saks said.
There are about
33 Saks stores
and 36 Neiman Marcus locations,
according to the company,
as well as two Bergdorf Goodman stores
and roughly 70 Saks Off 5th discount stores.
“This is a defining moment for Saks Global,
and the path ahead presents a meaningful opportunity
to strengthen the foundation of our business
and position it for the future,”
said Geoffroy van Raemdonck, who took over for CEO and Executive Chairman Richard Baker this week. Baker had assumed control after the company’s CEO Marc Metrick, stepped down earlier this month.
When Saks said that it would buy Neiman Marcus for $2.65 billion in the summer of 2024,
the goal was to create a powerhouse in a luxury sector
that had grown more fragmented.
Online sellers were siphoning customers
and big name brands had begun to sell goods from their own stores.
But the tie-up with Nieman Marcus only worsened Saks’ debt situation as luxury sales weakened.
Global sales of luxury goods are expected to contract for the second straight year in 2026 as consumers anxious about the global economy pare back their spending,
according to a study by Bain & Co. consultancy released in November.
Hudson’s Bay, Canada’s oldest company, began liquidating all but six of its stores in March 2025.
The upscale department store landscape has volatile in recent years.
Neiman Marcus entered bankruptcy protection for about four months in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic spread.
The privately held department store chain was forced to close its stores for several months during the pandemic like other competitors such as Lord & Taylor.
Lord & Taylor sought bankruptcy protection in August of that year,
then said it would close all of its stores and operate as an online retailer only.
The century-old department store Nordstrom agreed to be taken private by Nordstrom family members and a Mexican retail group in a $6.25 billion deal last year.
Sales at the long-suffering Macy’s have begun to improve under new CEO Tony Spring,
who has shuttered unprofitable stores
and improved service.
He’s also trying to attract the same luxury shoppers who power sales at Bloomingdale’s and upscale beauty retailer Bluemercury, which are both owned by Macy’s.
There is concern among vendors about Saks and how things will move forward.
“They’re very nervous,
very concerned,
very worried
about spring deliveries for merchandise that they’ve already produced,”
said Gary Wassner, CEO of Hilldun Corp.,
which ensures suppliers get paid for products shipped to retailers.
“They weren’t able to complete deliveries on what they had produced for the fourth quarter of (2025), so they’re sitting with that inventory.”
Wassner said Saks Global accounted for 40% to 50% of the business of some of his clients.
He said that he told his clients to stop shipping to Saks last month given the uncertainty.
Wassner said that his clients have $130 million in spring orders waiting to be delivered to Saks.
They are seeking guarantees of payment from Hilldun before shipping.
Saks said that it has financing commitments of $1.5 billion from some of its creditors and another $240 million in “incremental liquidity” from its lenders.
By Anne D’innocenzio and Elaine Kurtenbach
My opinion: I like this part and I will put this in my inspirational quotes:
“This is a defining moment for Saks Global,
and the path ahead presents a meaningful opportunity
to strengthen the foundation of our business
and position it for the future,”
said Geoffroy van Raemdonck, who took over for CEO and Executive Chairman Richard Baker this week. Baker had assumed control after the company’s CEO Marc Metrick, stepped down earlier this month.
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