WhoWhatWhereWHY: The closing of Saks Fifth Avenue
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Saks windows display clearance signs of 30-60 percent off merchandise.
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If hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, imagine how a scorned woman who loves to shop feels!
In a very bad case of adding insult to injury, a postcard Saks Fifth Avenue sent to its cardholders last week has managed to inflame more than one customer with its insensitivity. Signed by Jennifer de Winter, executive vice president of stores for the chain, it assured shoppers that "great consideration" went into "the difficult decision" to close March 17. After thanking customers for their patronage, Ms. de Winter added that Saks "would like to extend an invitation to our Beechwood, Ohio, store just two hours away."
Note to Ms. de Winter: And just two hours back!
Basically, Saks is asking us to drive four hours to give them money they no longer care to collect from us here. The postcard points out that we can also shop at the OFF Fifth store at Tanger Outlets in Washington, Pa. (don't bother, mostly junk) and at Saks.com (gee, really?). What it fails to consider is the very real possibility that we might be miffed. As long as we're going online we can shop anywhere and probably will, out of spite.
Call it the first wife syndrome. Pittsburgh gave Saks 60 great years and now is being dumped for younger, sexier ... Beechwood, Ohio?
Note to Ms. de Winter: We hate Cleveland.
But apparently we love New York, where Western Pennsylvania ZIP codes reportedly rank high among out-of-town shoppers at the flagship Saks Fifth Avenue. (Saks management would not comment on customer demographics.) That confirms two things: The Saks customer base is solid in this region, where many of the store's Diamond clients (who spend a minimum of $25,000 a year at Saks) live in small towns on large incomes fueled by coal, steel and gas. Second, the decline in sales can be attributed in large part to poor management and a failure to stock the merchandise local customers are buying elsewhere.
First Published February 7, 2012 12:00 am
