Saks Fifth Avenue’s parent company is partnering with Amazon to acquire rival department store chain Neiman Marcus for $2.65 billion.
HBC CEO and Chairman Richard Baker told The New York Times that the company has “no plans to close stores or digital operations or reduce services,” even though the two chains operate in many of the same markets.
Baker says part of the appeal is the face-to-face experience. “Customers love going to the stores,” he says. “They love touching the products and spending time with our personal shoppers.”
Neiman Marcus’ sales force was also appealing: “People forget how important people are. To sell luxury goods, you need beautiful stores and a sales force that customers trust,” he said.
The deal was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The two chains have been in talks for months and have explored a takeover multiple times in recent years, according to the Journal. Any merger would likely come under intense regulatory scrutiny as the Federal Trade Commission exerts greater scrutiny on consolidation in fashion retail.
The combined company would have annual sales of about $10 billion, according to people familiar with the deal.
Amazon will take a minority stake in the new company, which will be called Saks Global, and provide technology and logistics expertise, according to The Wall Street Journal. The other minority investor is Salesforce.com, the Journal reported.
HBC, the holding company that owns Saks and Hudson’s Bay, is financing the deal with $2 billion raised from existing investors, according to The Wall Street Journal. HBC did not respond to a request for comment.
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The paper also reported that Mark Metrick, chief executive officer of Sac’s e-commerce business, will run the combined company.
Betty Lynn Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Contact her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or follow @blinfisher on X, Facebook and Instagram.. Sign up here for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which brings you top consumer news stories on Fridays.
