High-end department store conglomerate Saks Global filed for bankruptcy protection late Tuesday in one of the biggest retail collapses since the pandemic, just a year after a deal aimed at creating a luxury powerhouse brought together Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus under the same roof.
The filing raises uncertainty about the future of the iconic American luxury fashion brand, although Saks said early Wednesday that its stores would remain open for now after finalizing a $1.75 billion financing package and naming a new chief executive.
Long beloved by the rich and famous, Saks never fully recovered from the Covid pandemic as competition from online outlets increased and brands began selling more items in their own stores. The company had difficulty last year paying suppliers, who began holding inventory.
The former CEO of the Neiman Marcus department store chain, Geoffroy van Raemdonck, will replace Richard Baker, the architect of the acquisition strategy that left Saks Global in debt. Baker, the executive chairman, had just taken over as CEO at the beginning of the year.
Saks Global’s assets and liabilities are estimated to range between $1 billion and $10 billion, according to documents filed in US Bankruptcy Court in Houston, Texas.
The original Saks Fifth Avenue store, known for carrying exclusive brands such as Chanel, Cucinelli and Burberry and its holiday light shows, was opened by retail pioneer Andrew Saks in 1867.
The court process is intended to give the luxury retailer room to negotiate a debt restructuring with creditors or find a new owner. If it doesn’t work, the company could be forced to close. The company, in its writing, stated that the lawsuit is not the problem.
“The company’s challenges are linked to inventory availability and supplier confidence, not the underlying demand for luxury products,” he said in the letter.
The deal with Neiman Marcus added debt at a time when global luxury sales were slowing.
“In a market where luxury brands are going direct-to-consumer and buyers expect customization and speed, that (merger) was always going to fail,” said Brittain Ladd, strategy and supply chain consultant at Florida-based Chang Robotics.
Saks Global, which has about 17,000 employees, raised $600 million and restructured debt in mid-2025 to address its financial problems. Missed payments from suppliers and inventory disruptions left the company with severe liquidity constraints heading into 2026, it said.
Sparsely stocked shelves may have driven shoppers to rivals such as Bloomingdale’s, which reported strong sales in 2025, increasing pressure on Saks Global.
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“Rich people are still buying,” Morningstar analyst David Swartz said last month, “just not as much at Saks.”
Running out of cash, Saks Global last month sold the land for Neiman Marcus’s flagship store in Beverly Hills for an undisclosed amount. It had also been looking to sell a minority stake in upscale department store Bergdorf Goodman to help reduce debt.
The new financing deal would provide an immediate injection of $1 billion through a debtor-in-possession loan from an investment group, according to Saks Global. Reuters previously reported that the loan was led by Pentwater Capital Management in Naples, Florida, and Boston-based Bracebridge Capital.
According to the company, financing valued at $240 million would be available through an asset-backed loan provided by the company’s asset-based lenders.
The luxury retailer will have access to $500 million in financing from the investment group once it emerges from bankruptcy protection, which is expected later this year, according to Saks Global.
He asked the court to delay the presentation of the group’s financial statements by 45 days, until March 13, 2026.
Among the unsecured creditors were several luxury brands, led by Chanel with about $136 million, and Kering, owner of Gucci, with $60 million, according to a court document. Global luxury giant LVMH was also listed as an unsecured creditor for $26 million. In total, Saks Global estimated there were between 10,001 and 25,000 creditors.
Paris-based Kering, which also owns brands such as Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, declined to comment.
Chanel, LVMH and Richemont did not respond to requests for comment.
“For the luxury industry as a whole, this accelerates an existing trend: brands will reduce reliance on department stores, reduce wholesale exposure, and prioritize owned channels and select partnerships,” Ladd said.
In 2024, Baker masterminded the acquisition of Neiman Marcus by Canada’s Hudson’s Bay Co., which had owned Saks since 2013, and later spun off the American luxury assets to create Saks Global, bringing together three names that have defined American high fashion for more than a century.
That $2.7 billion deal was based on about $2 billion in debt financing and equity contributions from investors including Amazon, Salesforce and Authentic Brands, which were listed in the court document as equity investors in Saks Global.
With information from Reuters
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