The Bankruptcy of Saks Global: A Long Path Forward

Saks Fifth Avenue store front. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

The coronavirus pandemic tremendously impacted the world, altering global politics, health, dynamics, and consumerism. During the period of quarantine, a change in demand and consumption fueled by the fear of health implications created an online shopping boom. This greatly hurt department stores as in-person shopping disappeared, and customers turned to brands' websites to buy directly from them. Despite hopes of recovery, the post-covid period remained harmful for major department stores, as luxury brands began to focus on selling directly to customers, removing the department stores from the selling chain altogether. Due to these circumstances, many department stores were forced to close — with a record number of 12,200 closures in 2020.

As a strategy to compete with online retailers, popular department store Saks Fifth Avenue acquired fellow retailer Neiman Marcus and combined to become Saks Global. The acquisition gave the Canadian Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), the owner of Saks Fifth Avenue, access to not just Neiman Marcus but also all of their family stores, including Bergdorf Goodman and Horchow. Marc Metrick, the then current head of Saks.com, was chosen to run Saks Global.

Saks not only expanded its portfolio of department stores, but also assumed millions of dollars in preexisting debt. The $2.7 billion deal, completed in December 2024, was funded with $2.2 billion in junk bonds. The acquisition intended to establish a dominant department store chain in the United States, but instead it contributed to the company filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on January 13, 2026 after failing to make a $100 million interest payment to bondholders in December. 

Saks Global later reported between $1 billion and $10 billion in both assets and liabilities, reflecting significant financial instability. Ultimately, the company became a retailer burdened by unsustainable debt and strained relationships with vendors. In an attempt to safeguard liquidity, Saks began to slow payments to critical vendors, who in turn refused to send goods to Saks. Other suppliers began requiring full payment at delivery in fear of the flailing company. Some of the company’s largest unsecured creditors are Chanel, who is owed $136 million, Kering SA, who is owed $60 million, and Capri Holdings Limited, who is owed $30 million.

When Saks Global formed in 2024, two additional stakeholders in the deal were Amazon and Salesforce, both aiming to provide technology and logistics to the company. Amazon invested $475 million into the company with the ambition to sell Saks' range of luxury fashion and beauty products online on their website, calling it “Saks at Amazon.” Amazon was guaranteed to receive a $900 million payout over eight years from Saks, but this promise is currently in dispute after their partnership ended in late January 2026 after Saks Global filed for bankruptcy earlier that month and pulled out of the deal.

Amazon’s attorneys responded to Saks Global a few hours after the company filed for bankruptcy, stating, “That equity investment is now presumptively worthless…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.”

To help guide Saks Global through bankruptcy, former Neiman Marcus CEO Geoffroy Van Raemdonck was brought back to the company. Van Raemdonck’s goal is to refocus the company on what each subbrand does best to better serve its loyal customers. He shared his plan for Saks Global to close 24 storefronts, keeping 13 Saks and 32 Neiman Marcus store locations open. He explained that more Saks locations would close so the Neiman Marcus subbrand could be the priority of the company, and that the underperforming Neiman Marcus stores were already shut down in 2020. Van Raemdonck’s decision to close certain Saks locations was based on many factors including assessment of long-term potential, area economics, and storefront performance.

A company spokesperson shared that Saks Global is “committed to all three banners and strongly believe in each of their unique value propositions,” and that “By further differentiating our retail banners through distinct assortments and experiences, we will honor the heritage of each brand while positioning ourselves to lead multiple segments of the luxury market over the long term.” Van Raemdonck also posted an update on LinkedIn, announcing the progress of the company under his leadership. He shared that “the company has already secured $825 million of its committed $1.75 billion financing, and that another $300 million is expected within weeks.” This announcement can be seen as a positive step forward for Saks Global in the long road ahead of navigating their bankruptcy.