Saks Fifth Avenue facts for kids
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Flagship store in Midtown Manhattan (2019)
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1867 |
| Founder | Andrew Saks |
| Headquarters |
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United States
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Number of locations
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Areas served
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Key people
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Marc Metrick (president, 2015) |
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Saks Fifth Avenue, often called Saks, is a famous American department store. It sells luxury items and has its main office in New York City. The company was started by Andrew Saks. The very first store opened in Washington, D.C. in 1867. Saks grew and opened a store in Manhattan in 1902. Its most famous store on Fifth Avenue opened in 1924.
In 1998, a company called Proffitt's, Inc. bought Saks. This company then changed its name to Saks, Inc.. Later, in 2013, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) bought Saks, Inc.
As of 2021, Saks Fifth Avenue runs its physical stores and online shop as two separate parts. There's also Saks Off 5th, which used to be a discount store for Saks Fifth Avenue. Now, it's a big discount chain on its own.
The Story of Saks Fifth Avenue
How It All Began
Andrew Saks was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He started working as a peddler and paper boy. In 1867, when he was just 20, he opened a men's clothing store. He did this with his brother Isadore in Washington, D.C.. This was only two years after the American Civil War.
Their store, A. Saks & Co., was at 517 7th Street, N.W. This area is still a shopping district in Washington. Saks had some new ideas for his time. He sold items at one set price, so there was no bargaining. He also offered refunds if customers returned items. This was not common back then. Saks was also known for its "truthful" newspaper ads.
By 1896, Saks and Co. had stores in many cities. These included Norfolk and Richmond, Virginia, New York City, and Indianapolis. In Washington, D.C., Saks called itself "Washington's Wonderful Store."
In 1902, Saks opened a very large store in New York City. It was in Herald Square on 34th Street and Broadway. Andrew Saks ran this store with his brother Isadore and his sons Horace and William. Andrew Saks passed away in 1912. His son Horace then took over the company.
Saks Fifth Avenue Opens
In 1923, Saks & Co. joined with Gimbel Brothers, Inc.. Bernard Gimbel, a cousin of Horace Saks, owned Gimbel Brothers. Saks & Co. still ran as its own separate business.
On September 15, 1924, Horace Saks and Bernard Gimbel opened the Saks Fifth Avenue Building. It was at 611 Fifth Avenue in New York City. This new store was a full block long, south of St. Patrick's Cathedral. It faced what would become Rockefeller Center. The building was designed by Starrett & van Vleck. They used a style based on classical architecture.
Expanding to Resorts and Universities
Horace Saks passed away suddenly in 1926. His cousin, Adam Gimbel, became president of Saks Fifth Avenue. The company then started to grow even more. They opened seasonal stores in popular vacation spots. These included Palm Beach (1926) and Miami Beach (1929).
In 1929, Saks opened its first large, year-round store in Chicago. Just six years later, it moved to an even bigger spot. By the end of the 1930s, Saks Fifth Avenue had 10 stores. Two were big city stores in New York and Chicago. The other eight were smaller resort stores.
During World War Two, Saks opened special shops for soldiers. These were in New Haven, Connecticut and Princeton, New Jersey. After the war, these small stores became "University Shops." They served students and staff at nearby colleges. More University Shops opened later. One was near Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Another was in Ann Arbor, Michigan (1960).
New City Stores
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Before the U.S. joined World War Two, Saks opened two more big city stores. These were in Beverly Hills and Detroit (1940). After the war, three smaller downtown stores opened. These were in Pittsburgh (1949), Philadelphia (1952), and San Francisco (1952). In San Francisco, Saks competed with the local luxury store, I. Magnin.
Moving to Suburban Malls
In the 1950s, more people started shopping in suburban malls instead of downtown. Saks Fifth Avenue opened its first store in a mall in 1954. This was at Sunrise Center, which is now The Galleria at Fort Lauderdale.
Some new suburban stores were stand-alone buildings. These were in suburbs with their own shopping areas. Examples include White Plains, New York (1954) and Garden City, Long Island (1962). A few stores were in malls built in city centers. These included New Orleans, Boston, and Minneapolis. But most new Saks stores, dozens of them, opened in suburban malls over the years.
Growth in the 1990s
Saks continued to grow in the 1990s. They opened many new stores, especially in Texas, Florida, and California.
In California, the store I. Magnin closed in 1995. This allowed Saks to take over some of their locations. Saks opened in San Diego's Fashion Valley and expanded in Carmel. Saks also opened smaller "Main Street" stores in suburbs. These included Pasadena and Santa Barbara.
In Texas, Saks took over three locations where Marshall Fields stores were closing. In 1997, Saks moved its main Houston store to The Galleria. It also added a new store at Town & Country. In the Dallas Galleria, Saks moved to a bigger spot within the mall. New Saks stores also opened in Austin (1997) and Fort Worth (2000).
In Florida, seven Saks Fifth Avenue stores opened in the 1990s. This brought the total to 11 stores by the end of the decade. New locations included Palm Beach Gardens, Naples, and Orlando.
New Business Ideas
In 1990, the company started "Saks Off 5th." This was a discount store version of the main brand. By 2016, there were 107 Saks Off 5th stores around the world.
In 1998, Proffitt's, Inc. bought Saks Holdings Inc. After this, Proffitt's, Inc. changed its name to Saks, Inc..
2000s and Beyond
International Stores
In November 2001, the first Saks Fifth Avenue in the Middle East opened. It was at Kingdom Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
In 2005, Saks opened an 80,000 square foot store in Dubai. This store closed in 2016. In 2008, Saks opened a store in Manama, Bahrain. This store is 57,000 square feet and has two floors. It is now Saks' only store in the Middle East.
In November 2007, Grupo Sanborns opened the first Saks store in Mexico. It was in Mexico City at Centro Santa Fe, the country's largest mall. Another store opened in Polanco in 2010, but it closed in 2020.
In 2012, Saks opened its first store in Central Asia. This was in Almaty, Kazakhstan, at the new Esentai Mall. This store is three floors tall and 91,000 square feet.
Changes in the US
In 2004, Saks closed eight stores that were not doing well. These were mostly smaller stores in California, New York, South Carolina, and Minnesota.
During the economic downturn from 2007 to 2009, Saks had to lower its prices. This meant less profit. It took three years for the company to start selling items closer to their full price again.
In 2013, the main Saks store in New York was worth a lot of money. It made about 20% of Saks' total sales.
On July 29, 2013, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) bought Saks Fifth Avenue's parent company for $2.9 billion. HBC is based in Canada.
HBC planned to open up to seven Saks stores in Canada. Three of these stores eventually opened. In February 2016, a 150,000 square foot Saks store opened in downtown Toronto. It was part of the Hudson's Bay department store building. A second Toronto area store opened soon after. In February 2018, the third Canadian store opened in Calgary.
In 2015, Saks started a $250 million project to update its Fifth Avenue flagship store. In October 2015, Saks announced a new store in Greenwich, Connecticut. In autumn 2015, Saks said it would replace its store at Houston Galleria with a new one.
Recent Updates (2020s)
On January 15, 2021, Saks Fifth Avenue opened a 54,000 square foot area on its fifth floor in New York. It was called Barneys at Saks. This was to continue the tradition of finding new designers.
On January 25, Saks opened the first stand-alone Barneys at Saks store. It was a 14,000 square foot store in Greenwich, Connecticut. This was the first time Saks sold men's clothing in that area.
In March 2021, HBC and Insight Partners made Saks Fifth Avenue's online business a separate company called "Saks." Insight Partners invested $500 million in this new company. The 39 physical Saks stores now operate separately as "SFA." HBC still fully owns SFA. Marc Metrick, who was president of Saks Fifth Avenue since 2015, became CEO of the new online business, Saks.
In April 2021, Saks announced it would close all 27 of its fur salons by January 2022. By January 2023, the company also said it would stop selling products made from animal fur.
In August 2021, Saks announced it would work with WeWork. They would turn some Saks spaces into shared workspaces.
In June 2022, Saks said it would turn its original 1938 store building in Beverly Hills into offices and apartments. The Saks store in Beverly Hills now operates from other nearby buildings.
In August 2022, Grupo Sanborns announced that its Saks store in Mexico City would close in 2023. This was the last Saks store in Mexico. A Sears Mexico store will take its place.
Famous Store Locations
Saks–34th Street
Saks-34th Street was a department store focused on fashion. It was at 1293-1311 Broadway in Herald Square. The building was built in 1902 and had seven stories. This store became separate from Saks & Company when that company moved to Fifth Avenue. The new Saks-34th Street was sold to Bernard F. Gimbel. It became part of Gimbels. A bridge connected the second floors of both stores across 33rd Street. In the 1947 movie Miracle on 34th Street, the outside of Saks-34th Street is shown.
The Saks-34th Street store closed in 1965. Reasons included a confusing layout and no escalators. After Gimbels closed this part of the business, the first floor was used for Christmas sales. Later, the building was sold to the E. J. Korvettes chain. After that chain closed, the building was updated in 1985 and became the Herald Center. As of 2016, the main store there is H&M.
Beverly Hills Store
The first Saks Fifth Avenue store in Beverly Hills, California, was at 9600 Wilshire Boulevard. It was designed by Parkinson and Parkinson, with interiors by Paul R. Williams. The store opened in 1938. It was very successful right away. It grew to almost 74,000 square feet and had 500 employees. Paul Williams made the inside look like a fancy home. Rooms were lit with soft lights to show off the clothes. New sections for furs and gifts were added in 1940.
The store moved to the next-door building at 9570 Wilshire Boulevard in 2024. The original building will be turned into offices and apartments by the Hudson's Bay Company.
Gallery
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Saks Fifth Avenue in Santa Fe Mall in Mexico City.
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Saks at the North Star Mall in San Antonio, Texas
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Saks Fifth Avenue at Phipps Plaza in Atlanta, Georgia
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See also
In Spanish: Saks Fifth Avenue para niños
