If the retailer does open any stores in the near future, they would likely be full-line stores and not the smaller, stand-alone units it has opened in the last few years, Wilson said. Last year the chain, which operates 57 Saks Fifth Avenue units and 52 Saks Off 5th outlets, announced 10 closings across the country. Seven of the 10 have already closed, Wilson said.
For all of 2004, the upscale chain's same-store sales increased 11% over the year before, and operating income jumped 19% to $125 million. The year Wilson said he plans a mid-single-digit same-store sales increase for the stores.
Much of the executives' presentation was centered on how the chain was remade in the last few years. "Luxury is staid, rigid, snobby," Wilson said. "What do we want to be? We want to be high performance. Luxury is ladies who lunch. High performance is ageless."
Saks Fifth Avenue is owned by Birmingham, AL-based Saks Inc., which was formerly Proffitt's, and acquired the chain in 1998. Besides Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Inc. operates 232 department stores under the names Parisian, Proffitt's, McRae's, Younkers, Herberger's, Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's and Boston Store, as well as 39 mall-based Club Libby Lu specialty stores.
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