Saks Fifth Avenue

Saks Fifth Avenue
Formerly
  • A. Saks & Co.
  • Saks & Company
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryRetail
GenreDepartment stores
Founded1867 (1867) in Washington D.C., United States
FounderAndrew Saks
HeadquartersNew York City, New York, United States
Number of locations
42
Areas served
Parent
Websitesaksfifthavenue.com
Footnotes / references

Saks Fifth Avenue (colloquially Saks) is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1867 by Andrew Saks. The first store opened in the F Street shopping district of Washington, D.C., and expanded into Manhattan with its Herald Square store in 1902. Saks was bought by the Gimbels department store chain in 1923 and expanded nationwide during this ownership, and opened its flagship store on Fifth Avenue in 1924. Gimbels and Saks were acquired by Brown & Williamson in 1973, and transferred to sister company Batus Inc. in 1980. While Gimbels was liquidated in 1987, Saks was sold to Investcorp in 1990. Saks Off 5th was established as a Saks clearance store the same year, and has since evolved into an off-price store chain. Saks was acquired by Proffitt's, Inc. (renamed Saks, Inc.) in 1998.

Saks, Inc. was acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company in 2013. Saks and Saks Off 5th were spun-off into Saks Global, and consequently became sister brands with department stores Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus, in 2024. Current expansions beyond the United States include the Middle East, while previous expansions include Mexico through a franchising agreement with Grupo Sanborns from 2007 until 2023, and Canada through whole ownership from 2016 until 2025.