In one of the largest retail collapses since the pandemic, Saks Global filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on January 13, reporting $1 billion to $10 billion in both assets and liabilities. A liquidity crisis triggered by its $2.7 billion acquisition of Neiman Marcus saddled the retailer with unsustainable debt and strained vendor relationships.
Saks Global is the largest multi-brand luxury retailer in the world, operating a portfolio of retail brands including Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Off 5th, Neiman Marcus, Neiman Marcus Last Call, Bergdorf Goodman, and Horchow. It spans approximately 70 full-line luxury locations, additional off-price stores, and five e-commerce platforms, with approximately 8.4 million square feet of owned or ground-leased US real estate.
On paper, the deal might have looked like a power move, but below the surface, neither company had a healthy P&L, so what Saks Global actually acquired was a compounded liability, with overestimated synergies priced as equity. The deal led to immediate liquidity challenges and created an unsustainable capital structure.
So how did we get here?
The Beginnings
Saks Fifth Avenue traces its origins to retail pioneer Andrew Saks, who opened his first store on F Street in Washington, DC, in 1867. In 1902, the Saks family opened a large Saks & Compant store in New York’s Herald Square on 34th Street and Broadway, which Andrew Saks managed alongside his brother Isadore and sons Horace and William.
In 1923, Saks & Company merged with Gimbel Brothers, run by Horace Saks’ cousin Bernard Gimbel, setting the stage for future expansion. The iconic Saks Fifth Avenue flagship on 611 Fifth Avenue opened on September 15, 1924. In the following three decades, the company opened stores coast to coast.
In 1998, Tennessee‑based department‑store operator Proffitt’s acquired the retailer and renamed itself Saks, Inc., making Saks Fifth Avenue part of a larger national retail group. In the 2000s, Saks Fifth Avenue pushed into international markets, opening locations in the Middle East and Mexico while also growing its OFF 5TH outlet chain.
The Hudson’s Bay Company Era
Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), owner of Hudson’s Bay and Lord & Taylor, then publicly traded under Governor and Executive Chairman Richard Baker, acquired Saks Inc. in 2013 in a deal valued at about $2.9 billion, including debt, funded through new term loans, an asset‑based lending (ABL) facility, and approximately $1 billion in new equity. Saks became a key pillar of its North American luxury strategy. In 2021, the Saks business was split into separate operating and real‑estate/ownership entities, which were later folded into Saks Global.
In 2015, HBC and Simon Property Group created a real estate joint venture using several of the Canadian retail company’s properties in the US and abroad. Hudson’s Bay contributed 42 owned or ground-leased properties, valued at $1.7 billion, to the venture. The retail company held an 80% stake. The joint venture leased the properties back to Hudson’s Bay under triple-net operating leases.
Macro headwinds, including the shift to e-commerce and declining foot traffic, led to continued underperformance, and HBC completed a take-private in March 2020, just before COVID-19 shuttered stores.
In 2021, capitalizing on pandemic-accelerated e-commerce growth, HBC separated its e-commerce operations into stand-alone entities to attract technology-focused capital. In March, Saks Fifth Avenue's e-commerce business raised $500 million from Insight Partners at a $2 billion valuation. In June, Saks Off 5th's e-commerce business raised $200 million at a $1 billion valuation.
The fleet of physical stores remained wholly owned by HBC and was financed together as a single credit group, while the e-commerce entities operated with separate capital structures.
The Neiman Marcus Power Move
July 2024—Neiman Marcus Deal: After years of on-again, off-again talks dating back to around 2017, HBC acquired the Neiman Marcus Group in a transaction valued at about $2.7 billion in total enterprise value. The acquisition legally closed on December 23, when Saks Global completed the purchase and combined the businesses with Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Last Call, and Horchow, continuing to trade under its own brand.
Financing for the deal included roughly $2.2 billion of senior secured notes, a large ABL revolving credit facility of about $1.8 billion, and around $275 million in seller financing.
Equity funding came from a group of strategic and financial investors, including Amazon, Authentic Brands Group, Salesforce, G‑III Apparel Group, and others, alongside existing HBC backers like Rhône and Insight Partners. Amazon invested about $475 million and agreed to support Saks Global with technology and logistics.
Saks Global operates a business with more than $9 billion in annual gross merchandise value, accounting for around 60% of US luxury fashion sales, Baker said. "As part of our transaction, we have over $600 million a year in synergy. We all know how hard we have to work to make an additional $600 million a year, and that's what we're first and most important was getting that figured out at Saks Global."
November 2024—HBC Spins Off US Assets: As part of a restructuring of HBC’s North American retail portfolio, the company spun off US assets, including Saks Fifth Avenue, into a new holding company, Saks Global.
February 2025—Valentine’s Day Vendor Memo: Saks Global CEO Marc Metrick sent a memo to vendors acknowledging an 18-month backlog of unpaid vendor bills, outlining a prolonged payment plan, playing hardball with brands, and doing little to alleviate concerns about unpaid invoices.
Metrick announced that, effective March 1, vendors would be paid 90 days from receipt of inventory, and all past-due balances would be paid in 12 installments beginning in July 2025. All payments for new merchandise would be made through wire/ACH at the earliest date commercially possible. Before the merger, Neiman Marcus was paying net 30 with a trade discount applied. WWD said at the time Saks was believed to owe “hundreds of millions of dollars” to vendors.
The retailer also revealed plans to reduce its 2,660 vendor count by 25%, cutting brands that no longer fit its portfolio. “We’re forecasting a pick-up in revenue and with fewer brand partners,” Metrick added.
March 2025—Store Closures: Hudson's Bay Company Canadian operations filed for CCAA protection and ultimately liquidated, closing all stores by June 2025.
The iconic Neiman Marcus flagship store in downtown Dallas, which first opened its doors in 1907, shut its doors after the company failed to come to an agreement with its landlord. In the same week, Saks Global confirmed the closure of Neiman's offices at CityPlace in uptown Dallas as part of an effort to consolidate corporate office space, while maintaining a single corporate headquarters in New York.
April 2025—Job Cuts: In an effort to consolidate operations, approximately 550 workers, or 3% of Saks Global’s total workforce, including individuals employed at Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus stores and in other areas, were terminated. Most of those cuts came from Saks Global’s corporate offices in Brookfield Place in lower Manhattan and Dallas.
This downsizing at corporate offices followed the 5% reduction in the corporate workforce disclosed in February. Another 500 jobs were eliminated when Saks closed an owned fulfillment center in Tennessee.
June 2025—New Financing: Saks Global secured $600 million in financing commitments from its major bondholders, easing liquidity but not resolving its structural debt issue. The deal included a $400 million first-in, last-out asset-based credit facility, plus $200 million subject to certain conditions.
September 2025—Sold Real Estate: Saks Global sold the real estate of the Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills flagship store for an undisclosed amount. It had also been looking to sell a minority stake in Bergdorf Goodman to help cut debt.
November 2025—Store Closures: Saks Global announced the shuttering of nine Saks Off 5th stores, a sign of retrenchment in its off‑price segment.
Some vendors reported they still saw little progress on past‑due invoices, and concerns grew about shrinking product assortments and Saks debt trading at distressed levels.
December 2025—Interest Payment Missed: Saks Global missed a $100 million interest payment, a key default event that pushed the company toward a formal restructuring process.
January 2—CEO Resigns: Richard Baker, architect of the strategy, assumed the interim CEO role when Marc Metrick resigned.
January 13-14—The Filing: Saks Global and certain affiliates file voluntary Chapter 11 petitions in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, seeking court‑supervised restructuring.
Saks Global's assets and liabilities are estimated to be between $1 billion and $10 billion, with unsecured claims reported at $712 million, according to documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston, Texas.
The retailer secured a financial commitment of approximately $1.75 billion, including $1 billion in debtor-in-possession funding to keep the business operating during bankruptcy and $500 million in financing upon its emergence.
Upon the filing, former Neiman Marcus Chief Executive Geoffroy van Raemdonck, who had led Neiman Marcus Group through its 2020 bankruptcy, was appointed Saks Global CEO. Former Neiman Marcus Chief Merchandising Officer Lana Todorovich and former Bergdorf Goodman President Darcy Penick joined the leadership team.
January 16—$500 Million Tranche: Saks Global drew an initial tranche of about $500 million, with court orders authorizing it to continue payroll, employee benefits, and normal customer programs while in Chapter 11.
January 29—Off-Price Wind Down: Framed as part of a shift toward full‑price luxury and more focused digital investments, an announcement was made that most of Saks Global’s off‑price footprint would be closing. All five Neiman Marcus Last Call stores were closed by the end of January. A total of 57 Saks Off 5th stores were closed on February 2 and the remaining 34 locations began holding closing sales. A dozen Saks Off 5th locations will remain open and repositioned as an outlet channel for excess inventory from Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman.
Saks Off 5th's website, which is a separate legal entity from Saks Global, is also preparing to close, with a sale beginning on January 30.
January 30—Saks Fifth Avenue Exits Amazon Luxury: Saks’ participation on the Amazon Storefront was a stipulation of Amazon’s $475 million investment in the acquisition of Neiman Marcus, according to documents filed by Amazon on January 14 with the bankruptcy court. The retailer also agreed to pay a referral fee for Saks-branded goods sold on the platform, guaranteeing at least $900 million in payments to Amazon over eight years.
“That equity investment is now presumptively worthless,” Amazon’s attorneys wrote in the filing. “Saks continuously failed to meet its budgets, burned through hundreds of millions of dollars in less than a year, and ran up additional hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid invoices owed to its retail partners.”
Less than a year ago, Saks Fifth Avenue began curating a high-end assortment on Amazon. The Luxury Stores at Amazon, curated by Saks Fifth Avenue, was merchandised with an assortment that included women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, beauty, shoes, and handbags. As part of its bankruptcy proceedings, Saks Global is moving to exit its partnership with Amazon.
February 10—Initial Store Closures: Saks Global disclosed that eight Saks Fifth Avenue stores and one Neiman Marcus store are set to close later this year. The nine stores shutting represent what Saks Global said is “an initial phase of optimization across the Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus store footprint.”
Neiman Marcus in Copley Place, Boston, is closing. Saks Fifth Avenue stores closing are The Summit in Birmingham, AL.; Polaris Fashion Place in Columbus, OH; American Dream in East Rutherford, NJ; The Shops at Canal Place in New Orleans, LA; Bala Plaza outside of Philadelphia, PA; Biltmore Fashion Park in Phoenix, AZ; Stony Point Fashion Park in Richmond, VA, and Utica Square in Tulsa, OK.
The Horchow home catalog and 14 Fifth Avenue Clubs, which are stand-alone personal styling suites, will also be closed. Two stand-alone Fifth Avenue Clubs will continue to operate in Indianapolis, IN, and Honolulu, HI, and a third site is expected to open in Palm Beach, FL., this fall.
On The Other Side—The Path Forward
Saks Global's intention is to use Chapter 11 to stabilize operations, restore vendor confidence, and exit with a leaner balance sheet that can support its business without the need for constant emergency financing. The proposed path to emerge from Chapter 11 in 2026 centers on new financing from its bondholders, a major debt restructuring, and a smaller, more focused store-and-brand footprint.
“We are initiating a series of actions to reinforce Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman as the ultimate destinations for luxury with a seamless multichannel shopping experience,” Geoffroy van Raemdonck, Chief Executive Officer of Saks Global, said in a statement.. “By optimizing our operational footprint, we will be better positioned to deliver exceptional products, elevated experiences and highly personalized service across all channels, while simultaneously positioning our company to make investments that enable long-term growth and value creation. Importantly, opportunities within the luxury market remain strong, and Saks Global is primed to play a distinct, enduring role within the industry for many years to come.”
