Content about Saks

New York -- Saks Fifth Avenue announced Monday that John Cruz has been named SVP and director of the New York City flagship store, effective April 29.

Cruz currently serves as VP and general manager of the company’s Beverly Hills store. He has worked at the NYC store before – as general manager 2005-2007 and VP and GM 2007-2010.

Cruz replaces Suzanne Stemper-Johnson, who is leaving Saks to pursue other interests.

New York City -- Saks Inc. announced Tuesday it will shutter its Saks Fifth Avenue store in the Dallas Galleria on June 15. The retailer has operated a store in Dallas since 1982, and the summer closing will leave some 120 associates with the choice of transfer or severance.

Simultaneous with the Saks departure announcement was news from department store chain Belk that it will fill the vacated Galleria space with a $20-million, 170,000-sq.-ft. flagship store that starts construction in July and is slated to open spring 2014. 

New York -- Saks Inc.’s Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th announced that it plans to open its doors in Livermore, Calif., on Nov. 8.

The new 28,132-sq.-ft. store is located in Paragon Outlets, a new outlet facility located 36 miles east of the heart of San Francisco, which will open in conjunction with Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th on the same day.

New York -- Saks Inc. said Monday it has launched AT&T Wi-Fi at all 44 retail locations nationwide.

The AT&T Wi-Fi network connects shoppers with mobile tools such as the new Saks Fifth Avenue app, which offers features such as shareable wish lists, fashion look books, event calendars and more. AT&T customers with select Wi-Fi enabled devices will auto-authenticate to the in-store Wi-Fi service, so frequent shoppers will be automatically connected to Saks Fifth Avenue’s Wi-Fi each time they re-visit the store.

New York City -- Consumer spending slowed in October, sending a note of caution as retailers head into the holiday season. Eleven retailers missed expectations for same-store sales, while three chains beat estimates, according to a preliminary tally by Thomson Reuters. However, while the October results were not as promising as some retailers had hoped, sales for the most part rose and most chains reported results that were only slightly off from analysts’ estimates. Some analysts blamed Wall Street for underestimating how much caution is still out there.

New York City -- Saks plans to close its 20,000-sq.-ft. Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th store in Triangle Factory Outlets in Morrisville, N.C., (metropolitan Raleigh) by Jan. 1.

The company opened a 30,000-sq.-ft. Off 5th location in Tanger Outlet Center of the Piedmont in nearby Mebane, N.C., in 2010, which will serve as a replacement store for the closing location. The new Mebane store was designed in the chain’s loft” format that debuted in 2008 and which redefined and elevated the outlet shopping experience.

Northbrook, Ill. -- Oakbrook, Ill.-based Mid-America Asset Management said that Saks has signed a lease for 25,900 sq. ft. at Village Square of Northbrook in Northbrook, Ill., to open its third Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th store in Chicagoland.

The store, which will unveil a new design, is slated to open in November.

Mid-America is the exclusive leasing representative for the 334,995-sq.-ft. shopping center located on Chicago’s North Shore.

New York City -- Saks reported Tuesday that it has tightened its losses in the quarter ended July 30, posting a loss of $8.4 million compared with a loss of $32.2 million in the year earlier period.

The luxury retailer cited increased full-price selling for the improvement, but warned Wall Street that it was heading into the fall selling season with caution because of the uncertain economic conditions.
 

New York City -- Saks said Tuesday it will open a licensed Saks Fifth Avenue store in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in August 2012.

The full-line department store, which will tailor its merchandise to the region, will open in Esentai Shopping Mall, which is part of a new mixed-use development featuring residential, office and hospitality components.

The three-story, 91,000-sq.-ft. store will showcase a three-story-high, state-of-the-art digital video screen on the building’s facade. 

New York City -- Saks’ Off 5th outlet division announced Tuesday that it plans to open four new stores this year – Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Northbrook, Ill., and Charleston, S.C.

Additionally, the Off 5th arm said it will open a new store at the Market at Town Center in Sugar Land, Texas, that will replace its store located at The Fountains in Stafford, Texas.
 

New York City -- Showing that luxury is experiencing measurable bounce in the recovering economy, the higher-end department stores led the same-store sales pack in March.

Saks outperformed the rest of the category, recording an 11.1% same-store sales increase during the month. Total sales rose 9.2% to $260.2 million, compared with $238.2 million in the year-ago period.