Newscasts - Saks needs a 'true merchant' CEO to survive, says retail analyst

Macy's

07/01/2026 20:09

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Source: 'Reuters - Business videos'

Description: Saks Global Enterprises is in talks to secure a loan of about $1 billion as it prepares for a possible Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing according to a recent Bloomberg News report. Mary Epner, adjunct professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York says the luxury retailer needs someone steeped on its products running the business for it to succeed. Alex Cohen has more.

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Video Transcript:

A luxury retailer could end up in bankruptcy court soon. Saks Global Enterprises, which includes Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and others, is in talks to secure a loan of about $1 billion as it prepares for a possible Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in the coming weeks. That's according to a Bloomberg News report citing people familiar with the matter. Saks Global did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

Hopefully, if it does go into bankruptcy, they don't simply cut their way to profitability.

Mary Epner, Adjunct Professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, says Saks will need a leader who is enmeshed in the apparel world to help fix its problems. Saks recently hired Richard Baker, who has a background in real estate and finance to run the company. But Epner says he may only be a good short-term solution.

Even as recently as December, it's my understanding that vendors were issuing RTVs, which are returns to vendor. It means that they wanted their product back because they were in fear of not getting paid. So, he faces a lot of issues. So, you need somebody in there who is a true merchant and somebody who can repair these relationships.

Epner added that competitors have swooped in to take advantage of a struggling Saks.

Many of these luxury brands have opted to sell to other retailers that they haven't in the past, namely Bloomingdale's, Nordstrom, and Macy's, and it's rather shocking. And so, Saks has lost a lot of their momentum with those brands, and that needs to be repaired and improved.

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that Saks Global was preparing for bankruptcy after missing an interest payment exceeding $100 million on debt from its Neiman merger.