Saks Prepares for Bankruptcy After Missing Debt Payment
Owner of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus is in talks with creditors about financing for a coming chapter 11 filing
Dec. 31, 2025 at 4:14 pm
Saks Global is preparing to file for bankruptcy within days after missing an interest payment on the debt it took on to buy Neiman Marcus, people familiar with the matter said.
Saks has struggled financially since taking on the debt burden in 2024, and the luxury retail chain’s delays in paying vendors have contributed to weaker merchandise offerings—and sales. Saks is now in talks with its creditors about financing for the bankruptcy process, the people said.
The planned chapter 11 filing is expected to mark the highest-profile department-store bankruptcy since the Covid-19 pandemic. Saks declined to comment.
Saks failed to make an interest payment of more than $100 million that was due Tuesday to holders of its bonds, people familiar with the matter said. As the company’s financial problems mounted over the past year, Saks sought to raise cash through asset sales, such as selling a Beverly Hills property. It has also explored selling a 49% stake in Bergdorf Goodman, the high-end department store acquired as part of its $2.7 billion merger with Neiman Marcus.
Saks, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman are among the most fabled department stores in the U.S. Founded more than a century ago, all three of the brands helped pioneer the luxury retail market. Their stores became landmarks in cities across the U.S.
The combination of the department-store chains, which also includes Saks OFF 5th, was a bid to create a luxury-retailing juggernaut better able to streamline costs and hang on to their wealthy shoppers. But the gambit has faltered as the combined entity’s debt load has proved unsustainable.
