Just days after the Wall Street Journal reported that Saks Global is preparing for bankruptcy, having missed a $100 million debt payment, it announced that CEO Marc Metrick is stepping down to pursue new opportunities.

Executive chairman Richard Baker will assume the CEO role with the promise “to secure a strong and stable future” for the company, as he asserted the company’s “well-established relationships within the luxury sector.” 

He continued in a statement, “We will strengthen our position so that we can capitalize on the many opportunities we see for our company in the luxury market.”

However, the opportunities look thin on the ground, especially if Baker’s track record is any indication. 

Measuring Success Or Failure?

Baker has a tangled web of retail and real estate investments under his NRDC Equity Partners investment firm, including Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), which went on to acquire Saks Inc. in 2013 and Neiman Marcus Group, including Bergdorf Goodman, in 2024. 

At the of closing of the $2.7 billion NMG acquisition, Baker stated, “For years, many in the industry have anticipated this transaction and the benefits it would drive for customers, partners and employees,” and he added, “We look forward to unlocking significant value for our customers, brand partners and employees.” 

At the time, Hudson’s Bay Company was spun off as a separate company and Saks Global was formed with Baker as executive chairman and then-Saks CEO Metrick promoted to Saks Global CEO.

Shortly after being spun off, Hudson’s Bay fell into bankruptcy and was forced to close all stores and terminate 8,300 employees in June 2025. 

Baker has also left other retail failures in his wake, including Lord & Taylor, Germany-based Galeria Kaufhof/GKK, Gilt Groupe, Fortunoff, Zellers and Home Outfitters.    

It is safe to say Baker is no retail operator—“Our largest business is our real estate business. Everyone seems to have forgotten that I was a real estate guy, still am, and that HBC is primarily a real estate company,” he said in a 2023 interview with WWD. 

Rather, he might be labeled a retail deconstructionist, on the order of Eddie Lampert, who singlehandedly drove Sears into the ground, all the while amassing a $2.2 billion fortune, according to Forbes. 

On a positive note, Saks Global is sitting on nearly 13 million square feet of prime U.S. retail real estate. And that real estate is worth a pretty penny in today’s market, said to be worth over $7 billion in June 2024. 

The ICSC reports that retail real estate is in high demand with occupancy rates well over 90% nationwide and store openings far exceeding store closing in 2025. Nearly 10,000 stores opened versus fewer than 6,000 closed in its most recent reporting.

Selling some of Saks Global properties might hold creditors at bay for a time. For example, a nearly $1 billion sale of 117 JCPenney stores to Onyx Partners fell through after the Trust that holds the properties argued the deal significantly undervalued them, according to an Onyx lawsuit. 

However, a real estate sale isn’t a long-term fix to take the company from its current sorry state into a viable U.S. luxury retailer.

Troubles Mount

In Saks Global most recent reporting, revenues fell more than 13% year-over-year to $1.6 billion in second quarter ending August 2. Inventory shortfall was blamed for the “softer-than-expected” results— an issue the company itself must own.  

Rumors have swirled since early 2025 that vendor invoices have gone unpaid, resulting in brands holding back on new shipments. By most recent count, inventories are down to $1.9 billion from $2.1 billion in the first quarter. And the company said inventory challenges have continued into the third quarter. 

On the flip side, Saks Global’s concession business performed well. Under concessions, luxury brands operate their own in-store business, so they don’t have to wait for payment. But how long luxury consumers will make tracks to Saks Fifth Avenue or Neiman Marcus stores for their next luxury fashion fix is a big question.

“The luxury shopper is loyal to experience, not necessarily channel or retailer,” Liza Amlani, principal at Retail Strategy Group, shared with Retail Dive, as she noted that relying upon its concession business is a weak position to be in. “If Saks Global can’t meet demand, the customer will simply go elsewhere.”

News about Saks Global’s fading fortunes won’t go unnoticed by the well-read, well-informed affluent customers it depends upon. It already has a black eye after the December allegations against a Boston-based personal shopper, Suhail Kwatra, for stealing nearly $450,000 from the company in a returns fraud scheme. The Wall Street Journalreported that customers had complained about Kwatra long before the company took action to investigate. 

Kwatra vigorously denies the allegations, claiming that he was coerced by two members of the Saks asset protection team into signing an unlawful and suspect statement while being told he would face no charges and have no adverse publicity. While the matter remains in dispute, the promise of no adverse publicity turned out to be false—it’s gotten wide coverage.

Even before the personal shopper fraud allegations broke, Bloomberg reported that customers were abandoning Saks and Neiman Marcus in favor of Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom where they continue to get the level of service and product selections they are looking for.

More bad news coming out about Saks Global about pending insolvency will be one more nail in its coffin.

Executive Exodus

No doubt, the outgoing CEO Metrick will find new opportunities after serving for some 30 years as a successful retail operator, having completed the Saks executive training program in 1995 and continuing on there. He took a three-year cross-company assignment to Hudson’s Bay Company from 2012 through 2015, returning to Saks as president, and was then promoted to CEO in 2020. 

Metrick will be sorely missed by vendors and company employees, as will the cadre of long-time senior Saks executives who’ve followed suit, either because they saw the writing on the wall or weren’t aligned with Baker’s plans.

Global president and chief commercial officer Emily Eisner, like Metrick a virtual lifer at Saks Fifth Avenue, left in November.

Her leaving followed the exit of chief operating officer Rob Brooks, chief transformation officer Bill Bine, senior vice president of store growth John Antonini, president of stores Larry Bruce, menswear merchant James Newell and Will Cooper, merchant lead in shoes and accessories.

This Won’t End Well

While Saks Global has failed to make its most recent $100 million interest payment to bondholders, it will have more debt payments due after raising $600 million in June to help pay a $120 million interest payment that month. In its most recent quarter, the company net losses increased to $288 million. 

Efforts to raise more capital by selling a 49% stake in Bergdorf Goodman has so far been unsuccessful. The question now is how long Saks can keep running on fumes. Luxury consumers, with no shortage of places to shop, aren’t likely to wait for Richard Baker to fix what’s ailing Saks, assuming he even can.