Saks Incorporated

Type	Public (NYSE: SKS)
Founded	1999 in Birmingham, Alabama
Headquarters	New York City, New York
Industry	Retail
Products	Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th Club Libby Lu
Revenue	▲ US$3.03 Billion (FY 2009)[1]
Operating income	▼ US$-135 Million (FY 2009)[1]
Net income	▼ US$-155 Million (FY 2009)[1]
Total assets	▼ US$2.17 Billion (FY 2009) [2]
Total equity	▼ US$966 Million (FY 2009)[2]
Website	www.saksincorporated.com

Saks Incorporated (NYSE: SKS), formerly known as Proffitt's Inc., is a Fortune 500 operator of high-end department stores in the United States. After going public in 1987, Proffit's Inc. completed acquisitions of several department stores. The company was renamed to Saks Incorporated in 1998 after the acquisition of Saks Holdings, which brought the Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Off 5th franchises, as well as Folio, a mail-order business and Saks.com, an online retailer.

[edit] History

[edit] Proffitt's Inc.

Proffitt's Inc. began as five Proffitt’s stores in the Knoxville, Tennessee metropolitan area. The company went public on the NASDAQ under the symbol PRFT. The company continued to grow and in 1989 purchased 18 Hess's locations in Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, and Georgia. From 1994 to 1998, the company added McRae's, Younkers, Parisian, Herberger's, Carson Pirie Scott, Boston Store, and Bergner's chains, as well as additional stores from Loveman's, Parks-Belk, and Brody's, which were converted into existing store nameplates. In 1997 the company started trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PFT.

In September 1998, Proffitt’s Inc. acquired the holding company for the luxury retailer Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Holdings, Inc., and subsequently changed their legal name to Saks Incorporated. The former Saks Holdings properties eventually would become the Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises division of the renamed corporation.

[edit] Divestments

By 2005, Saks Incorporated began to seek a narrower focus towards the luxury-oriented retail synonymous with its Saks Fifth Avenue stores. The decision resulted in a July 2005 sale of its combined 47 Proffitt's and McRae's stores to Belk for approximately $622 million.

On October 31 that same year, Saks announced that it was selling the 142 stores within its Northern Department Store Group, including Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's, Younkers, Herberger's, and Boston Store) to Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., for $1.1 billion; the transaction was complete as of March 6, 2006.^[3]

On August 2, 2006, Saks Incorporated announced that it had agreed to sell its 38 Parisian stores, along with two regional distribution centers, to Belk, which rebranded them under their own name in the third quarter of 2007. Saks has also announced plans to relocate their headquarters from Birmingham to New York.

On November 5, 2008, Saks announced the closure of the Club Libby Lu chain.^[4] The company's activity within the last 12 months is seemingly oriented toward the return of Saks Fifth Avenue as an independently-operated brand for the first time in more than 30 years. Some industry experts have also speculated that the activity positions a streamlined Saks Incorporated itself for buyout at a later point.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

• Saks Fifth Avenue
• Proffitt's

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Saks Incorporated Official Website