Late Friday afternoon, which just happened to be Valentine’s Day, my phone started buzzing with angry texts about the letter that Saks Global C.E.O. Marc Metrick had just sent to vendors. The memo was straightforward about the company’s attempt to change the way the fashion industry does business in the U.S. In particular, Metrick declared that brands will now be paid within 90 days of shipping products to Saks, Neiman Marcus, or Bergdorf Goodman (its portfolio companies), rather than the customary 30. And while the net-90 policy was worrisome enough to vendors, Metrick also wrote that the company wouldn’t start paying back currently overdue invoices to brand partners until July—and that those payments would be broken down into 12-month installments. (Saks Global, which has raised $2 billion in debt, surely has the cash on hand at the moment, but waiting a few months to start returning funds, and doing so in a drawn-out fashion, will allow the group, it seems, to organize the new payment system and keep spending on things like store renovations and marketing.)