Monday Feb. 2 is the closing day for the Saks OFF 5TH store at 29 Tarrytown Road in Greenburgh as part of a major change in operations by parent company Saks Global Enterprises LLC. Among the company’s stores selling discounted merchandise that are remaining open is the Saks OFF 5TH store at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley. A closing sale has begun at the Saks OFF 5TH at 750 White Plains Road in Eastchester. Two Connecticut stores — in Stamford and Clinton — are also closing.
The company is winding down majority of its off-price operations as it adopts a revised strategy of focusing on on luxury customers and full-price selling.
The company says that following a thorough review of its off-price business, it made the decision to close the majority of its Saks OFF 5TH retail locations and the remaining stores in its Last Call brand. Some of its Saks OFF 5TH stores will remain open to serve primarily as a channel to sell residual inventory from the company’s Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman operations. The company says it will no longer buy inventory specifically for the remaining Saks OFF 5TH stores.
“As we advance on Saks Global’s transformation, we are taking decisive steps to realign our business to better serve our luxury customers and drive full-price selling across our core luxury businesses,” said Geoffroy van Raemdonck, CEO of Saks Global. “With these actions, we will be well positioned to seize the greatest opportunities for long-term growth and value creation.”
The company emphasized that Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman stores and online sites are open and serving customers as usual.
Saks Global last month filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It asked the court to allow it to honor all customer programs, make certain payments to vendors, and continue employee payroll and benefits.
The company announced that it had lined up $1 billion of debtor-in-possession financing from the Ad Hoc Group, which it said will provide ample liquidity to fund Saks Global’s operations and turnaround initiatives. The Ad Hoc Group has also committed $500 million of financing to be available to the company upon its emergence from Chapter 11, which the company expects to happen later this year.
