Saks Incorporated

ABOUT THIS COMPANY:

Founded in 1924, Saks Incorporated (originally known as Saks & Company), operates a slew of retail concerns. The company's largest business segment is the Saks Department Store Group (SDSG), which operates a total of 241 department stores under the names Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's, Parisian, Proffitt's, McRae's, Younkers, Herberger's and Boston Store and Club Libby Lu. The company is most famous for Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises, which consists of 62 Saks Fifth Avenue stores and 53 Saks Off 5th stores across the country. The stores are primarily found in shopping malls and offer a selection of clothing, shoes, accessories, jewelry, cosmetics and home furnishings.

A quick history

The company's flagship store, Saks Fifth Avenue, was originally conceived by Horace Saks and Bernard Gimbel, who were both independent retail store operators in Manhattan's Herald Square at the dawn of the 20th century. They got together to construct a unique specialty store that would cater to well-to-do, fashion-conscious new Yorkers. On September 15, 1924, the two retailers opened a store between 49th and 50th Streets on Fifth Avenue, immediately becoming the first large retail operation to locate in what was then primarily a residential district.

Bernard Gimbel's nephew, Adam, took over the store in 1925 and redecorated the entire store in the Art Moderne style from the 1925 Paris Exposition, and broke it up into a series of specialty shops. Bernard Gimbel, who is also the one responsible for establishing the Saks Fifth Avenue empire, retired in 1969. The chain began to really branch out between 1972 and 1989, opening a total of 20 new stores around the country, and set out on a program to replace eight older stores with newer, more modern ones. A renovation of the New York flagship store was undertaken in 1978; the company installed its first escalator in 1979 and constructed a 36-floor office and retail complex directly behind the store, which was completed in 1990.