| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | NYSE: SKS |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. (1919 as Proffitt's, Inc.)[1] |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Number of locations | Saks Fifth Avenue: 46 OFF 5TH: 57 (April 2011)[2] |
| Area served | United States |
| Key people | Stephen I. Sadove (Chairman and CEO) |
| Revenue | US$ 2.786 billion (FY 2010)[1] |
| Operating income | US$ 90 million (FY 2010)[1] |
| Net income | US$ 33 million (FY 2010)[1] |
| Total assets | US$ 2.143 billion (FY 2010)[1] |
| Total equity | US$ 1.164 billion (FY 2010)[1] |
| Employees | 12,900 (January 2011)[1] |
| Subsidiaries | Saks Fifth Avenue |
| Website | [1] |
Saks Incorporated (NYSE: SKS), founded in Birmingham, Alabama in 1998, is headquartered in New York City, New York, and is a Fortune 1000 operator of high-end department stores in the United States under the nameplate Saks Fifth Avenue. Saks evolved from Proffitt's Inc. after Proffitt's changed its name in 1998.
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Proffitt's Inc. began as five Proffitt's stores in the Knoxville, Tennessee metropolitan area. After going public under the symbol PRFT on the NASDAQ stock exchange in 1987, Proffitt's Inc. grew by acquiring several department stores. In 1989 the company purchased 18 Hess's locations in Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and Georgia. From 1994 to 1998, the company added McRae's, Younkers, Parisian, Herberger's, Carson Pirie Scott, Boston Store, and Bergner's chains, as well as additional stores from Loveman's, Parks-Belk, and Brody's, which were converted into existing store nameplates. After acquiring Parisian, Proffitt's relocated its corporate headquarters to Birmingham, Alabama from Knoxville in October 1997.
In September 1998, the company acquired the holding company for the luxury retailer Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Holdings, Inc., and subsequently changed its legal name to Saks, Incorporated. The acquisition brought the Saks Fifth Avenue and Off 5th franchises, as well as Folio, a mail-order business and Saks.com, an online retailer. The former Saks Fifth Avenue properties became the Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises division of the company with the larger Birmingham-based department store division becoming the Saks Department Store Group. The company's main-line department store group was made up of its Southern Department Store Group: McRae's and Proffitt's,the Northern Department Store Group: Bergner's, Boston Store, Carson Pirie Scott, Herberger's and Younkers, the company's Specialty Department Store Group Parisian, and the company's Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises which included Saks Fifth Avenue and Off 5th. In 2001, the company recorded record revenues of $6.6 billion, making it a member of the Fortune 500 and one of the largest operators of department stores in the United States. The company was also a primary sponsor of the Bruno's Memorial Classic golf tournament, now known as the Regions Charity Classic. The company moved its headquarters to Midtown Manhattan, New York City in 2007.[3] Several of Sak's management still live in Birmingham.
By 2005, Saks Incorporated began to seek a narrower focus towards the luxury-oriented retail synonymous with its Saks Fifth Avenue stores. The decision resulted in a July 2005 sale of its combined 47 Proffitt's and McRae's stores to Belk for approximately $622 million.
On October 31 that same year, Saks announced that it was selling the 142 stores within its Northern Department Store Group, including Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's, Younkers, Herberger's, and Boston Store to Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., for $1.1 billion; the transaction was complete as of March 6, 2006.[4]
On August 2, 2006, Saks Incorporated announced that it had agreed to sell its upscale 38 Parisian stores, along with two regional distribution centers and Birmingham corporate headquarters to Belk, which rebranded them under their own name in the third quarter of 2007.
On November 5, 2008, Saks announced the closure of the Club Libby Lu chain.[5]
In late August 2010, the UK tabloid Daily Mail reported that a private equity buyer was mulling a $1.7 billion takeover bid for Saks Incorporated.[6]