The rapid collapse of Saks Global
The Story of Money
Manuela Saragosa
4.4 • 409 Ratings
🗓️ 21 January 2026
⏱️ 23 minutes
🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS
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Summary
Saks Global, the parent company of the historic luxury department store Saks Fifth Avenue, recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The move occurred a little more than a year after the company purchased Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman in a debt-fuelled takeover. The FT’s Wall Street editor Sujeet Indap and the US investment editor Eric Platt walk through how that acquisition played a role in the bankruptcy and whether more highly leveraged companies will seek bankruptcy protection in 2026.
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For further reading:
Death of a dream: Saks’ crisis exposes luxury department store woes
Leveraged luxury: fall of Saks Global to scorch US business stars
Saks divisive debt reshuffle shows a retail sector under strain
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Follow Sujeet Indap on X (@sindap), or on Bluesky (@sindap.bsky.social). Eric Platt is on X (@EricGPlatt), or on Bluesky (@ericgplatt.ft.com). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, excuse me. |
| 0:06.2 | I'm a reporter for the Financial Times. |
| 0:10.5 | It's a Wednesday afternoon in Midtown, Manhattan. |
| 0:13.7 | I'm standing outside the entrance to the luxury department store, Saks Fifth Avenue. |
| 0:19.0 | And I'm looking to talk to some shoppers. |
| 0:21.8 | I'm working on a podcast about Sacks Fifth Avenue. |
| 0:25.7 | Were you just inside the store? |
| 0:27.9 | Yes. |
| 0:28.5 | The flagship Sacks store on Fifth Avenue is massive. |
| 0:32.7 | It actually stretches across the whole block. |
| 0:36.0 | And inside are all kinds of luxury brands, Chanel, Dior, Fendi, |
| 0:41.7 | you name it. And it's been there for decades. Inside, everything looks like super fancy and like |
| 0:48.7 | wealthy. It's just like a bright spot. And wherever you look at, you will find something attractive to the eyes. |
| 0:58.0 | I talked to several people leaving the store, some longtime shoppers. |
| 1:03.1 | Actually, I grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Sacks was like the one nice store if you needed a nice pair of jeans. |
| 1:09.6 | It was the only thing there where you could go |
| 1:12.1 | and get like sevens or you know nice skin care and some total newbies this is my first time in |
| 1:20.0 | sacks yes what did you think i thought it was um like something you'd see on a movie something |
| 1:26.2 | way out of my league. |
| 1:28.1 | It was great to see, and I'm glad I went in. |
| 1:31.0 | But even in the 70% off, it's way out of my league. |
| 1:36.5 | The reason I'm here is because Sacks Global, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, |
... |
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