DiscoverSocial Currency with Sammi CohenWhy Saks Is In Trouble — and How PE Is To Blame
Why Saks Is In Trouble — and How PE Is To Blame

Why Saks Is In Trouble — and How PE Is To Blame

Update: 2025-06-06
Share

Description

Today Sammi digs into the retail scandal that ties together private equity, power plays, broken promises, and a $2.65 billion luxury merger that's now unraveling in public. Also known as: the story of Saks.  


Sammi follows the money trail to the center of Saks’ downfall: the mastermind behind the merger that would lead to the financial and reputational mess the brand is in now. This isn't a story about just one department store. It's a case study in how private equity can gut a brand, how debt can disguise dysfunction, and how small businesses are often the ones that are left holding the bag.


Today Sammi Covers:


00:00 How Saks Got Here


00:33 Richard Baker: the Mastermind


01:30 The Saks and Neiman Marcus Merger


02:00 Richard Baker's Wild Real Estate Strategy


04:31 Saks' Financial Decline


08:01 Vendor Fallout


10:13 What’s Next For Saks


12:50 How to Show Social Currency Some Love



Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comments 
In Channel
loading
00:00
00:00
x

0.5x

0.8x

1.0x

1.25x

1.5x

2.0x

3.0x

Sleep Timer

Off

End of Episode

5 Minutes

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

30 Minutes

45 Minutes

60 Minutes

120 Minutes

Why Saks Is In Trouble — and How PE Is To Blame

Why Saks Is In Trouble — and How PE Is To Blame

Social Currency