A Wren Says

It finally happened. Saks Global filed for bankruptcy. Here’s what that doesn’t it mean: It doesn’t mean that all of their stores are closing and that the brand will cease to exist. However, it does mean that the brand has bought some time to get back into a better financial position.

As this drama plays out, there are those who are questioning the place of the department store in the American shopping landscape. If Saks is headed down this path, does it signal the end of the cultural phenomenon? I wouldn’t say so, but it does signal that change is definitely needed.

In 2025, the Nordstrom family and investors took back their department store brand, going private. That gave them the freedom to make key decisions, without having to answer to shareholders. Perhaps as they saw how things were going, they realized it was time to get things back on track. Such a path isn’t available to Saks Global, but others are.

At this point, a reinvention has to happen. The turnaround team have to find ways to build better relationships with brands and customers to ensure that both come back happily. I don’t know how that will be done, but I believe with a bit innovation that it can.

I hope this brand continues and gets stronger because its place in the luxury landscape. After all, we’ve already seen other brands come back from the edge. In a year or two, perhaps we will see the same with Saks.