Kick’em in the Sak… 

You might be having a bad start to 2026, but nobody is having it worse than Saks Global. The department store holding company kicked off the new years by skipping a $100M bond interest payment, which is generally not something you do unless you're either (a) confused, (b) broke, or (c) already doing backroom deals with bankruptcy lawyers. 

(Source: Giphy) 

Because of this, CEO Marc Metrick suddenly decided after three decades that it was time to "pursue new opportunities"... which means on Friday he presumably told everyone on the board that he’s not staying to watch this thing get liquidated, aisle by aisle. So to step in, executive chairman Richard Baker, a man whose résumé screams real estate first, retail second, feelings never has entered the chat. Translation: The adult is in the room ready to start counting assets and exits.

If you're wondering whether this is heading toward bankruptcy... yeah. That's where the conveyor belt is already moving. But why? First off, Saks Global is the Frankenstein monster created in 2024 when Hudson's Bay duct-taped Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus together for $2.65B and called it "scale." The idea was to build a bigger luxury footprint with more firepower, and better compete more with Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's. What they got instead, was a metric f*k ton of debt, fewer shoppers, and a J-Poww sized interest payment. In other words, they got handed the holy trinity of retail doom. 

(Source: CNBC) 

Luxury spending didn’t bounce back the way everyone was initially hot and bothered about. Rich consumers got more picky than my four year old at dinner, and middle-tier “aspirational luxury” shoppers ghosted entirely. As a result, the debt stack started feeling… loud. That said, Saks has already been pawning the silverware,  selling Neiman Marcus' Beverly Hills flagship, restructuring debt last year, doing all the usual "we're totally fine" stuff that companies do right before they aren't. Now Baker is CEO, which tells you everything you need to know.

(Source: Giphy) 

Now of course, bankruptcy doesn’t mean liquidation tomorrow. It just means bean counters get to do more work and lawyers get to renegotiate terms. There will be store closures, and a swath of employees quietly updating their LinkedIns. But if there’s anything to take away from this story it’s this: Saks didn't miss a payment because of one bad quarter. It missed because the entire bet… that scale saves luxury retail… didn't work. (Now do Macy’s). Until next time, friends… 

At the time of publishing, Stocks.News does not hold positions in companies mentioned in the article.