Updated April 22 2:18 P.M. ET
Saks Global — which operates both Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus — is laying off hundreds of workers this week as part of an effort to consolidate operations as the retailers come together, WWD has learned.
Approximately 550 workers, or 3 percent of Saks Global’s total workforce, including individuals employed at Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus stores and in other areas are being terminated, according to sources.
Most of those cuts came from Saks Global’s corporate offices in Brookfield Place in lower Manhattan, Dallas and other locations, where a total of about 300 workers are being let go, the sources said. This latest downsizing at the corporate offices is in addition to the 5 percent corporate workforce reduction there disclosed in February. Another 500 jobs were also eliminated when Saks closed an owned fulfillment center in Tennessee recently.
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This week’s staff cuts at Saks Global focus on reducing duplicative and overlapping roles that emerged as a result of the $2.7 billion acquisition of the Neiman Marcus Group in December. The cuts are designed to lower costs, retain the best talent, and enable the teams to work more efficiently going forward. The personnel reductions focus on commercial, finance, operations, human resources, technology and transformation teams, as well as store teams that support Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. It is believed that this latest round of cuts did not affect the Bergdorf Goodman or Saks Off 5th divisions.
Saks Global is seeking to reduce annual costs by approximately $500 million over the next few years.
Officials from the company declined to comment Tuesday on this latest round of personnel cuts.
To close the $2.7 billion acquisition of Neiman Marcus and create a $10 billion luxury giant, Saks Global, led by executive chairman Richard Baker, pulled together some creative financing involving two tech giants, Amazon and Salesforce, and two apparel industry giants, G-III and Authentic Brands Group. Saks also secured a $2.2 billion bond.
There have been other recent personnel changes involving senior-level executives and top merchants. Several Neiman Marcus executives have departed, and their responsibilities were largely filled by Saks Fifth Avenue executives. Geoffroy van Raemdonck, NMG’s chief executive officer; Ryan Ross, president of Neiman’s and head of NMG customer insights; Lana Todorovich, chief merchandising officer at Neiman’s, and Katie Anderson, NMG’s chief financial officer, were among those who left late last year.
Saks and Neiman Marcus are being managed by one team, whereas Bergdorf Goodman will be managed separately. Marc Metrick, who ran Saks, was named CEO of Saks Global Operating Group. Emily Essner, formerly chief marketing officer at Saks, was promoted to a new role — president and chief commercial officer, in which she oversees the merchandising, marketing, commercial analytics and e-commerce for Saks and Neiman Marcus. Tracy Margolies, who was chief merchandising officer for Saks, was appointed president of Bergdorf Goodman, succeeding Darcy Penick, who left the store.
In February, Saks Global spelled out its new policy to start paying vendors on a 90-day schedule and make good on past-due bills in monthly installments starting in July. Saks Global’s vendor matrix is being reduced by 25 percent as some vendors are deciding to stop selling the retailers and others are dropped.
