Saks Fifth Avenue: Luxury Brand Strategy and Digital Merchandising
This paper examines Saks Fifth Avenue's evolving brand strategy following its acquisition by Hudson's Bay Company for $2.4 billion. It traces the store's history from its 1867 founding through its transformation into a global luxury retailer, analyzing how leadership under CMO Mark Briggs and President Marigay McKee is repositioning the brand through enhanced in-store experiences, a differentiated outlet strategy with Off Fifth, and expanding international presence. The paper also draws on a firsthand interview with a digital merchandiser at Saks to illuminate the practical realities of online merchandising, buying decisions, sales forecasting, and multi-channel marketing within a major luxury department store.
- Saks Fifth Avenue: Brand History and Acquisition: Founding, Hudson's Bay acquisition, and retail trends
- Global Expansion and Luxury Repositioning: International stores and elite luxury investment
- Leadership Vision and In-Store Transformation: New CMO direction and brand presentation upgrades
- Segmentation Strategy: Saks Fifth Avenue vs. Off Fifth: Loyalty programs and outlet differentiation
- Digital Merchandising: Roles and Responsibilities: Interview subject's background and team collaboration
- Buying, Purchasing Decisions, and Brand Integrity: Purchasing processes, quality control, and troubleshooting
- Marketing Strategy, Demographics, and Sales Forecasting: Brand storytelling, demographics, and pre-order timelines
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What makes this paper effective
- It integrates secondary research about Saks' corporate strategy with a primary source — a firsthand interview with a working digital merchandiser — giving the paper both macro and micro perspectives on the brand.
- The paper maintains a clear logical progression, moving from brand history to global strategy, then narrowing to ground-level operational insight, which keeps the reader oriented throughout.
- Specific data points (the $2.4 billion acquisition price, $48,000 bags, $1,500 shoes, the two-month online pre-order window) are used effectively to substantiate claims rather than relying on vague generalities.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates the effective use of a primary interview as supporting evidence alongside published secondary sources. By triangulating information from trade publications (AdWeek, Forbes, Racked) with firsthand practitioner insight, the author shows how real-world professional experience can validate and enrich theoretical or strategic observations about a brand.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with brand history and the Hudson's Bay acquisition, then moves through global expansion, leadership direction, and market segmentation. The second half pivots to a detailed interview-based account of digital merchandising operations, covering team collaboration, buying processes, online merchandising timelines, and marketing demographics. The conclusion synthesizes these threads around the theme of collaboration in fashion retail.
Saks Fifth Avenue: Brand History and Acquisition
A business founded in 1867 by Andrew Saks became Saks Fifth Avenue, one of the world's top luxury department stores, in 1924. Since then, the Saks brand has been associated with top-quality fashion and design. It is now owned by the Canadian firm Hudson's Bay Company, which acquired Saks for $2.4 billion. While the decision to purchase Saks and also that of competitor Lord & Taylor might have seemed "plucky" to some, the decision reflects current consumer shopping trends — department stores can be valuable anchors for the brand (Klara, 2014). Online shopping through branded digital stores supplements but does not replace traditional browsing in brick-and-mortar establishments.
Global Expansion and Luxury Repositioning
The world of fashion and merchandising has dramatically changed since Saks Fifth Avenue first set up shop in New York City. Emerging markets throughout the world are paying attention to the luxury sector, and Saks has done its best to make inroads globally. Saks already has two stores open in Mexico City, as well as stores in wealthy Gulf nations such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates ("Saks Fifth Avenue," n.d.). Its purchase by Hudson's Bay heralds a new era for the iconic department store chain.
One of the ways Saks' top leaders are working to boost the brand is by differentiating it further from its outlet store, Off Fifth. By channeling $1 billion into the flagship Saks stores and increasing the range of elite luxury goods — including "$48,000 bags and $1,500 shoes" — while ensuring the Off Fifth brand is correspondingly "devamped," the company signals a clear strategic direction (Bryant, 2014). Saks aims to establish itself as a global luxury department store offering top elite brands, positioning itself firmly in the high-end market.
Leadership Vision and In-Store Transformation
The current CMO is Mark Briggs, and both he and current President Marigay McKee previously hailed from Harrods, the mainstay British department store. When asked about Saks' new direction under the Hudson's Bay umbrella, Briggs states that the classic name and "heritage" of the Saks brand will be combined with "something different and fresh" (cited in Klara, 2014). Displays are being renovated, lighting is being improved, and the overall presentation is set to become richer and more striking throughout Saks stores.
The new Saks merchandise is to be presented in a format resembling a "coffee table book" rather than a catalog, reflecting the store's firm commitment to the luxury sector. Saks has always been a well-curated department store, but under its new leadership, both the online and brick-and-mortar stores will be refined to reflect its evolving global sensibilities. One of the ways Saks is establishing itself as a leading luxury provider is through a new personal shopping service (Klara, 2014). This service and other service-oriented elements of Saks' new approach allow the elite consumer to minimize time spent shopping while maximizing the value of their spending.
References
Bryant, K. (2014). Saks' new strategy: Make the Saks Off 5th outlet 'a mess.' Racked. Retrieved from
Klara, R. (2014, September 4). Saks Fifth Avenue CMO Mark Briggs explains sweeping changes. AdWeek. Retrieved from http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/saks-fifth-avenue-cmo-mark-briggs-explains-sweeping-changes-159883
Loeb, W. (2013, March 4). Good news: Saks Fifth Avenue is no longer elitist. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/walterloeb/2013/03/04/saks-5th-avenue-no-longer-elitist/
Saks Fifth Avenue. (n.d.). Business of Fashion. Retrieved from http://www.businessoffashion.com/community/companies/saks-fifth-avenue
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