Saks Off 5th leaves Germany

After 2 years of unsuccessful trading, the American outlet retailer Saks Off 5th will close all 8 German stores. In Düsseldorf, the iconic store (4 storeys covering a total of 3,500-sq.m GLA) will become a second KaDeWe department store. The Saks Off 5th units in Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Bonn, Heidelberg, Cologne and Hanover will close. The parent company Hudson’s Bay Co. started the divestment process of Lord & Taylor (40 stores in the U.S.A.) to focus on only the brands of Saks Fifth Avenue and Hudson’s Bay. “The German outlet market remains complex, and Germans are still not familiar with the Saks brand,” said Felix Muxel, C.E.O. of Gruppe Nymphenburg. “Moreover, the business model was complicated as Saks Off 5th had to buy merchandise externally, without any ‘full price’ Saks department stores in Germany”.