All around Saks Fifth Avenue, merchandise is sold out. The $2,520 Marni shearling vest? Gone. The $5,295 Brioni leather bomber jacket? Only one left. The $1,995 over-the-knee Christian Louboutin boots? “All gone, except for this,” said Nick Passerelli, a Saks employee, dangling a size 11 boot from his fingers. After a brutal year in which the nation’s luxury retailers were forced to offer their wares at stunning discounts, they are trying to get their magic back. And they may have found a way: deliberately running low on merchandise. – from NYTimes