When Luxury Goes Broke: The Saks Bankruptcy

Today, Sammi breaks down the unraveling of Saks Fifth Avenue — a luxury icon that survived wars, recessions, and cultural shifts, but couldn’t survive its own merger math. Through stalled vendor payments, junk-bond debt, leadership shake-ups, and a failed $2.7B Neiman Marcus merger, Saks entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy and set off a ripple effect far beyond Fifth Avenue. This isn’t a “department stores are dying” story — it’s a case study in how private equity, financial engineering, and legacy retail models collide. And why the belief that Saks was “too iconic to fail” turned out to be so wrong.

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Here’s what Sammi covers today:

00:00 The Saks & Neiman Marcus Merger and Its Fallout 

03:31 Vendor Relationships and Financial Strain 

06:45 Leadership Changes and Real Estate Moves 

10:16 Lessons from Saks' Downfall 

11:33 Breaking News: Saks Files for Bankruptcy 

12:48 How to Show Social Currency Some Love 

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