Saks Global Makes Major Executive Moves Amid Bankruptcy Filing

The future of luxury retail company Saks Global is uncertain as the fashion icon filed for bankruptcy late Tuesday night in a Houston court. 

The company behind the brands Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman has been struggling to recover since the pandemic, facing lackluster sales amid billions of dollars of debt, according to reports. The company also struggled last year to pay its vendors, according to Reuters, and as a result the vendors began to withhold merchandise.  

Additionally, the company announced Wednesday that it had secured $1.75 billion in financing from an “ad hoc group of the company’s senior secured bondholders” as well as $240 million of incremental liquidity from its “asset-based lenders.” The financing is meant to help the company navigate through the bankruptcy, which it expects to exit later this year. 

Saks acquired Neiman Marcus, which owned Bergdorf Goodman, in 2024 for $2.65 billion, in a deal that was “always going to fail,” Brittain Ladd, strategy and supply chain consultant at Chang Robotics, told Reuters. The expected failure was due to the merger taking place at a time when e-commerce sales were rising and luxury sales were falling. 

Now, the former CEO of Neiman Marcus, Geoffroy van Raemdonck, will take over as CEO of Saks Global from Richard A. Baker, effective immediately, the company also announced on Wednesday. 

Van Raemdonck has appointed several former Neiman Marcus executives to the company’s leadership team to provide support as he works to right the ship. 

Darcy Penick, former president of Bergdorf Goodman, has been named president and chief commercial officer at Saks. She’ll be overseeing stores, marketing, buying, digital lines, analytics and customer care. Lana Todorovich, former chief merchandising officer at Neiman Marcus, has been named chief of global brand partnerships at Saks. She’ll be leading the luxury retailer’s brand partnership efforts. 

“This is a defining moment for Saks Global, and the path ahead presents a meaningful opportunity to strengthen the foundation of our business and position it for the future,” van Raemdonck said in a statement announcing his appointment. “In close partnership with these newly appointed leaders and our colleagues across the organization, we will navigate this process together with a continued focus on serving our customers and luxury brands.” 

Amanda Schiavo can be reached at aschiavo@commercialobserver.com.