Saks To Close Eight Department Stores, Three Outlets

BIRMINGHAM, AL-Saks Inc. is closing eight of its Saks Fifth Avenue department stores and three of its Sakes Off Fifth outlets, most of them in California. The locally based company will shut most of the units in January. One of the eight department stores Saks is closing will be converted into an Off Fifth.

“After completing an extensive review of our store base, we are taking steps to rationalize our real estate portfolio to improve profitability,” says Saks chairman and CEO Fred Wilson in a statement. “These actions will permit our team to focus capital, inventory, and other resources on our most productive units and will further strengthen our brand.”

The stores Saks is closing represent 7% of the company’s total sf, but only 4% of its revenues at an annual total of $90 million, he says. Five of the department stores the company is shutting are in California, and New York and Texas each have one. Saks is closing an Off Fifths in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. The Off Fifth it is converting into a department store is in Hilton Head, SC. After the closings, Saks will be left with 56 department stores and 52 Off Fifth units.