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More Thoughts on the Saks-Neiman Flirtation

The player haters in Paris were out for Saks. Is this because the fashion crowd is frowning on Richard Baker’s Neiman Marcus M&A fantasy? Or because there is trouble? Or are people in this business just bored and mean? (I’m not talking about you, though.)

Saks Fifth Avenue-owner Richard Baker.
Saks Fifth Avenue-owner Richard Baker. Photo: Neville Elder/Getty Images
Lauren Sherman
October 12, 2023

When I was reporting on Saks Fifth Avenue-owner Richard Baker’s ambitions to buy Neiman Marcus Group over the summer, something kept creeping up. Several brands, and even a few service providers, remarked to me that they were owed quite a bit of money from Baker’s parentco, Hudson’s Bay Company, which owns both Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks, its e-commerce spinoff that launched in 2021 at the height of the luxury boom. Some aggrieved vendors told me that they even refused to ship their fall merchandise to the two entities.