A look at what is in store for the luxury retailer this year.
It hasn’t been an easy year for Saks. Along with many other luxury retailers, the 111-year-old department store has seen sales fall dramatically since the start of the recession. Last holiday season, it was criticized for discounting items up to 70%, long before the traditionally sale-heavy post-Thanksgiving week. Today, New York-headquartered Saks ( SKS – news – people ) reported its earnings for the second quarter of 2009. The retailer lost $54.5 million, or 39 cents per share, in the three months that ended Aug. 1. That compares with a loss of $32.7 million, or 24 cents per share, a year earlier. Sales were down by 15% to $561.7 million when compared with the same quarter last year. Its competition was similarly hard-hit: Dallas-based Neiman Marcus saw a 23% decline in year-over-year Q2 sales for stores open at least one year; Nordstrom ( JWN – news – people ) saw a 9.8% decrease in the same period. – From Forbes