By Suzanne Kapner
The parent of Saks Fifth Avenue plans to wind down its partnership with Amazon to focus on shoring up its own businesses after filing for bankruptcy protection last month.
Saks Fifth Avenue and Amazon joined forces in December 2024 as part of the luxury retailer's acquisition of rivals Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. Saks needed money for the deal, and Amazon -- which had long tried to crack the code of selling luxury goods online -- invested $475 million in the parent company, Saks Global. The investment was conditional on Saks selling merchandise on Amazon's website, according to a court filing.
But the partnership never really took off. "The Saks on Amazon storefront saw limited brand participation," wrote Darcy Penick, president and chief commercial officer of Saks Global, in an email to employees that was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Penick added that the Amazon storefront would be wound down so that Saks could focus on driving traffic to its own website.
"This decision follows a thorough review and reflects our goal of prioritizing the areas of our business that present the greatest opportunity for sustainable, long-term growth for our company and partners," she wrote.
Penick didn't share details on timing. As of Monday, the Saks storefront was still on Amazon and showcasing goods from Balmain, Lanvin, Dolce & Gabbana and other designers.
A Saks Global spokeswoman declined to comment.
The decision is a setback for Amazon, which has long courted luxury brands with mixed results. It has attracted designers to a section of its website called Amazon Luxury, but it still lacks many of the high-wattage names that draw shoppers.
"Beyond the Saks experience, the Amazon Luxury store continues to offer a wide selection of high-end designer styles, and we're adding more luxury brands regularly," an Amazon spokeswoman said.
The partnership appeared imperiled soon after Saks filed for bankruptcy protection Jan. 14. During a court hearing, Amazon claimed, among other things, that Saks had breached their deal, which included selling luxury products on the online giant's website.
In a court filing, Amazon said its "equity investment is now presumptively worthless after Saks continuously failed to meet its budgets, burned through hundreds of millions of dollars in less than a year, and ran up additional hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid invoices owed to its retail partners."
The retrenchment from Amazon is part of a broader move by Saks to pare back its businesses as it restructures.
Last week, Saks Global said it would close all but a dozen Saks Off 5th discount stores. The 12 stores that will remain open will serve as a way for Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman to clear unsold inventory. As such, Saks Global will stop buying inventory specifically for the Saks Off 5th locations that remain open, the company said.
Write to Suzanne Kapner at suzanne.kapner@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 02, 2026 13:57 ET (18:57 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Comments