The filing cast uncertainty over the future of the iconic US luxury fashion brand, though Saks said early yesterday that its stores would remain open for now after it finalised a $1.75 billion financing package and appointed a new chief executive.
Long loved by the rich and famous, Saks never fully recovered from the Covid 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 $1bn to $10bn, according to documents filed in US Bankruptcy Court in Houston, Texas.
The original Saks Fifth Avenue store, known for carrying exclusive brands like Chanel, Cucinelli and Burberry and 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.
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 personalisation and speed, that (merger) was always going to fail,” Brittain Ladd, a strategy and supply-chain consultant at Florida-based Chang Robotics, said.
Saks Global, which has about 17,000 employees, raised $600 million 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 last month 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 exclusive department store Bergdorf Goodman to help cut debt.
The new financing deal would provide an immediate cash infusion of $1bn through a debtor-in-possession loan from an investor group, Saks Global said. Reuters earlier reported the loan was led by Pentwater Capital Management in Naples, Florida, and Boston-based Bracebridge Capital.
Financing worth $240m 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 $500m of financing from the investor group once it successfully exits bankruptcy protection, expected later this year, Saks Global said.
n Saks Fifth Avenue Bahrain closed its physical store operations on December 18 last year. The luxury department store was located at City Centre Bahrain in Seef District.
&uuid=(email))