Saks Fifth Ave. won’t say if Union Square transition result of merger

Saks Fifth Avenue would not say whether its shift to appointment-only shopping in San Francisco’s Union Square is a consequence of its parent company purchasing rival Neiman Marcus, nor whether it will result in layoffs as has been reported.

Meanwhile, advocates for the area say they are unfazed by the transition amid the shopping district’s well-documented retail woes.

Officials with Saks Fifth Avenue, the luxury goods department store headquartered in New York City, confirmed to The Examiner on Friday that next month the company will transition its Union Square store to only allow shoppers to visit by appointment beginning Aug. 28. Saks Fifth Avenue’s two other Bay Area locations already follow a similar model.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that in addition to switching to appointment-only shopping, a round of layoffs will accompany the shift . A spokesperson for Saks Fifth Avenue did not say whether there would be job cuts, nor did they say whether the decision stems from Saks Fifth Avenue parent Hudson’s Bay Company announcing it would purchase the owners of rival Neiman Marcus for $2.65 billion . Amazon held a minority stake as part of the deal.

Neiman Marcus is located on Stockton Street, two blocks and around the corner from Saks Fifth Avenue’s Post Street store.

A Saks Fifth Avenue spokesperson told The Examiner in a statement that “we’re always looking for innovative ways to optimize our store experience to match luxury consumers’ evolving expectations, including meeting our customers where and how they want to shop with us.”

“We look forward to serving our San Francisco customers with this new experience,” the spokesperson said, noting the switch is “enabling associates to offer customers more refined services tailored to their preferences.”

Perhaps most crucially for Union Square, Saks Fifth Avenue will retain its physical footprint. The citywide quarterly retail-vacancy rate hit a record-high 7.9% in the first three months of 2024, with a 20.6% vacancy rate in Union Square alone.

Saks Fifth Avenue closed its Saks Off 5th discount retailer at 901 Market St. in the fall, while Macy’s announced that it would be closing its iconic store in Union Square as part of a larger wave of shuttering 150 stores nationwide through 2026 . Old Navy and Nordstrom also closed Market Street locations in 2023.

David Perry, a spokesman for the Union Square Alliance, said in a statement that “consolidation between brands is to be expected nationwide” following the Saks-Neiman Marcus merger, and that “retailers with high-end clientele” are already “offering appointment service.

In May, a Board of Supervisors committee tasked city officials with coming up with more concrete plans to revitalize Union Square. The alliance spokesperson, for his part, said Saks Fifth Avenue still has an opportunity to help do just that.

“We look forward to Saks continuing to be a part of Union Square’s luxury market as they find innovative ways to serve their customers and navigate through this transition,” Perry said.