Saks Fifth Avenue Stays the Course on Luxury

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jan 30th 2008 at 12:02PM

The luxury market may be floundering but don't look for Saks Fifth Avenue to go down market any time soon. In an interview with MarketWatch, Saks chief executive Steve Sadove said that he is going forward with plans to renovate the company's stores, spending a projected $150 million. He is also committed to luxury brands, expanding the distribution of top-tier labels such as Chanel and Gucci, a brave move at a time when the brands that are desired most by aspirational consumers might be vulnerable to the biggest hits. Consumer confidence among luxury consumers is at an all-time historical low. Unity Marketing's Luxury Consumption Index has shown that more than two-thirds of those with an average income of $155,700 believe the economy is in trouble. Sadove, however, is looking beyond this year hoping that his strategy will pay off in the long run. You may find some particularly helpful salespeople in Saks too, part of Sadove's strategy is to have as much as 90% of the Saks sales staff working on commission, up from about 50% three or four years ago.

Tags: consumers, luxury, saks fifth avenue, SaksFifthAvenue, shopping, steve sadove

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Dee Dee Rhodes Jan 30th 2008 5:26PM

Personally, I don't enjoy department store commissioned employees. The other day at Nordies....at least 30 people spoke to me and 6 people tried ringing up my two item puchased. Bad move IMO.

Andrea Feb 6th 2008 5:38PM

Sales people only do that so you don't complain that NOBODY came up and talked to you. I know its annoying.. I worked in sales at two department stores, but it's better to ask customers how they are doing instead of ignoring them. And yeah commission people are sometimes rude and don't care about the customer. But some of the customers are outright mean and can be worse than the salespeople.

Lalalotier Feb 7th 2008 1:07PM

Every time I go to Saks I never have a problem with rude or uncaring sales personnel. Everyone is courteous and attentive when I need them to be. I have never been bombarded with the staff trying to squeeze a ale out of me. I always receive the best quality from Anton, Danielle, and Eva in the Pittsburgh Saks. They are the best so why shouldn't they receive commission.