Saks Global Enterprises filed for bankruptcy to address mounting losses and a substantial debt load that has weighed down the iconic luxury retailer.

The company, which operates its Saks Fifth Avenue stores along with Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus, said it entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas in a statement.  

The move comes just over a year after debt investors handed Saks billions of dollars of new debt to help fund its acquisition of Neiman Marcus. But within months of doing so, the debt tumbled to deeply distressed levels, and by the end of 2025, Saks skipped an interest payment to bondholders totaling more than $100 million.

READ MORE: Luxury brand drops anchor in middle of metropolis

Saks Global appointed Geoffroy van Raemdonck as chief executive officer, effective immediately, and secured approximately $1.75 billion in financing, the company said. Van Raemdonck was CEO of Neiman Marcus Group from 2018 until it was taken over by Saks in 2024.

The bankruptcy is a watershed moment for Saks, which traces its roots back more than 150 years. Its flagship location on New York’s Fifth Avenue opened in 1924, when the stretch of now-prime real estate was largely residential. The business expanded from coast to coast in the ensuing decades, becoming an entry point to high fashion for many Americans, and went public for the first time in the mid-1990s.

READ MORE: Leading luxury goods group sees recovery signs in China

But the company has struggled to adapt to shifts in the industry as the luxury brands it offers in its department stores also market directly to consumers. The retailer had been negotiating a restructuring with creditors and weighing other ways to shore up liquidity, including raising emergency financing or selling assets, yet ultimately landed on a Chapter 11.