Saks

On January 23, 2004, ROSA SAKS (nee Helman), loving devoted wife of the late Abram Saks, of Margate, FL.; devoted loving mother of Deborah Friedman, loving mother-in-law of Joel Friedman, adored grandmother of Stacie and Marni Friedmanl; devoted companion of Anna Garun. Also survived by nieces and nephews, brother in-law and sister in-laws. Services at SOL LEVINSON & BROS. INC., 8900 Reisterstown Rd., at Mt. Wilson Lane, on Monday, January 26, at 11 A.M. Interment Lubawitz Nusach Ari (Ner Tamid)

Two Maryland employers have warned state labor officials of layoffs that could affect nearly 400 workers. Saks Fifth Avenue said it would terminate a third of its workforce, or 223 employees, at its Aberdeen distribution and order fulfillment center starting in late May, the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation said Tuesday. Julia Bentley, a Saks spokeswoman, said the retailer was opening a new fulfillment center for saks.com in Tennessee and was phasing out such jobs in Aberdeen.

Saks Fifth Avenue has narrowed its search for an East Coast distribution center to sites in Maryland and New Jersey and could make a decision on the $25 million project as early as today, sources familiar with the process said.Executives of the New York-based department store retailer, which has been seeking a location for the operation that would initially create 400 jobs, plan to meet this morning for a final site selection analysis.State officials estimate the Saks' facility would provide Maryland with a $250 million economic impact through the year 2009.

CHICAGO - Deal-craving shoppers helped a trio of prominent U.S. retailers report Tuesday that their third quarter managed to improve this year. At Target, in-store revenue rose along with foot traffic during the three-month period, but shoppers were still buying fewer items during each trip. But shoppers at both stores and discount retailer TJX Cos. surprised analysts in seeming more willing to indulge. Of the retailers that reported Tuesday, TJMaxx's parent company, TJX, fared best, with quarterly profit up 32 percent.

The Saks Fifth Avenue store at Owings Mills Mall got a dousing yesterday morning when its fire sprinkler system went off by accident, causing extensive water damage.A water main carrying water to the store's fire sprinkler system broke open about 9 a.m., according to Samantha Ostertag, assistant mall manager."As soon as water rushes through the system, the whole system of sprinklers comes on," Ms. Ostertag said. "It stays on until you can get to the main valve to turn it off."Before the sprinklers were turned off, they caused heavy water damage on both floors of the two-story, 93,000-square-foot anchor store, Ms. Ostertag said.

The Harford County Council is being asked to bait the hook that will lure the Saks Fifth Avenue department store chain to build a $36 million distribution center on U.S. 40 in Aberdeen.A resolution and a proposed law to benefit Saks will be introduced Tuesday night at the council meeting. The resolution calls for a $3 million loan-grant. The law would authorize the county to credit $625,000 against Saks' real estate tax bill at $125,000 a year during the next five years.In return, Saks would promise to bring 250 jobs to Harford upon completion of the distribution center next year, with an additional 200 jobs coming to the county in 1997.

Wooing businesses to Harford County such as the recently announced Saks Fifth Avenue distribution center is a painstaking process that can take months, if not years, and a lot of cash.Negotiations with Saks, which is close to completing a deal to build a 470,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center on U.S. 40 in Aberdeen, have been going on for 18 months, Harford officials said."We started burning down the phone lines trying to make a deal work once we heard Saks was shopping for land," said County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann.

The Harford County Council has authorized the Rehrmann administration to apply for a $3 million loan-grant to entice Saks Fifth Avenue to build a $36 million distribution center in Aberdeen.The combined loan-grant derives from state economic development funds, but Rehrmann administration officials needed council approval before applying for those funds on behalf of Saks.Paul Gilbert, the head of the county's economic development department, told the council Tuesday night that the deal with Saks to build a 470,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center is "ninety-nine percent" complete.

Should I hold onto my shares of Saks Inc.? Has the company turned the corner? - R.C., via the Internet Image is everything in retailing. The retailer's stock is coming back into fashion thanks to a renewed focus on its upscale Saks Fifth Avenue division. It helps that this has coincided with a general upswing in the results of luxury retailers. Saks again is benefiting from the cachet associated with its famous brand and has plans to expand on that with large stores in Mexico City and in Shanghai, China.

Saks Fifth Avenue abruptly announced the closing of its Owings Mills store yesterday, leaving Baltimore with just one upscale department store -- Nordstrom -- stunning the retail community and raising questions about the direction of local shopping."

Investing can be counterintuitive. How on earth can a stock price go down after higher profits are announced? Russell Brenza of Naperville, Ill., gave two examples: "Can you explain why in a news story about a company's increase in profits or net income, it often also states the stock dropped? "In a recent business section, it was reported `Net income at Saks surges 84 percent,' but yet `Saks stock slipped 25 cents.' In the same edition, `Costco Wholesale Corp. said second-quarter profit rose 31 percent,' but the closing sentence stated: `Shares of Costco dropped $1.56.

Should I hold onto my shares of Saks Inc.? Has the company turned the corner? - R.C., via the Internet Image is everything in retailing. The retailer's stock is coming back into fashion thanks to a renewed focus on its upscale Saks Fifth Avenue division. It helps that this has coincided with a general upswing in the results of luxury retailers. Saks again is benefiting from the cachet associated with its famous brand and has plans to expand on that with large stores in Mexico City and in Shanghai, China.

In old Hollywood movies, the stylish set all shopped at Saks Fifth Avenue. Women with gloved hands peered into windows accented with the store's signature script signage and dreamed of filling hatboxes and shopping bags with elegance and luxury. But few women wear gloves to go shopping or have much use for hatboxes anymore. As the times have changed, so has Saks -- becoming gradually more contemporary, while holding on with great determination to its upscale heritage and image. So how best to indicate to the world the department store's complex personality: New but familiar.

On a recent Sunday as Druid Hill Park was filling with cyclists, runners and folks just hanging out, Bill and Ellen Saks crunched through leaf litter, unobtrusively, they hoped, searching for the perfect spot to hide the park's first official geocache. The middle-aged couple from Pikesville had filled a utility box with treasures: a lightstick, an Outer Banks key chain, a purple carabiner clip, a Chevrolet T-shirt and a Northrop Grumman mini-mouse pad. Most important was the waterproof log book in which treasure finders could record their visits.

Suddenly, on June 27, 2005, NALEI ANN SAKOWSKI-SMITH, beloved daughter of Virginia and Gus Smith, dear sister of Haven Smith, loving grand-daughter of Frances and Stanley Sakowski, and Mary and James Smith, and great granddaughter of Geraldine Himmel and Stanley Sakowski. She is also survived by many loving family and friends. Memorial Service at Patapsco Methodist Church on Saturday at 11 A.M. Interment private. Memorial contributions may be made to Nalei Sakowski Memorial Fund, c/o First Mariner Bank.

CHICAGO - Another shakeup in the retail industry could be on the horizon, as J.C. Penney Co. Inc. emerges as a takeover target and Saks Inc. indicates that it might sell some stores. Stocks of the department store chains closed up 8.3 percent and 9 percent, respectively, as Wall Street paid heed to what could be two more deals in a rapidly consolidating industry. Private investment firms Cerberus Capital Management LP and Carlyle Group are teaming up to make a $16 billion to $18 billion bid for Penney, which has been lauded for its turnaround in recent years, according to a report yesterday in Women's Wear Daily.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Proffitt's Inc. is paying top dollar for Saks Holdings Inc., spurring investor concern that the nation's fourth-largest department-store operator is getting away from the bargain-basement ways that made it a favorite on Wall Street.Proffitt's shares fell 9.8 percent after it agreed to buy Saks Fifth Avenue, one of the best-known names in retailing, for $2.82 billion in stock and assumed debt. That's about 11 times Saks' estimated cash flow this year and more than any of Proffitt's recent purchases of regional department store chains.

A New York pension fund intends to buy a nearly completed Saks Holdings Inc. distribution center in Harford County this month for $27 million, further validating the region's exploding industrial property market.Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association's bid to acquire the Saks warehouse comes amid surging interest among institutional real estate owners, such as real estate investment trusts and pension fund consultants, for modern warehouses."Institutions like distribution centers because they provide good, stable yields, and they aren't as capital intensive as other investment opportunities, such as retail centers or office towers," said David P. Scheffenacker Jr., president of Preston Partners Inc., whose firm is representing Teachers in the transaction.

On January 23, 2004, ROSA SAKS (nee Helman), loving devoted wife of the late Abram Saks, of Margate, FL.; devoted loving mother of Deborah Friedman, loving mother-in-law of Joel Friedman, adored grandmother of Stacie and Marni Friedmanl; devoted companion of Anna Garun. Also survived by nieces and nephews, brother in-law and sister in-laws. Services at SOL LEVINSON & BROS. INC., 8900 Reisterstown Rd., at Mt. Wilson Lane, on Monday, January 26, at 11 A.M. Interment Lubawitz Nusach Ari (Ner Tamid)

NEW YORK -- "Will this be used for Beyonce's hair?" asks Sandra Magsamen. She fingers a strand of crystal beading at Spaeth Designs, a New York company that creates lavish decorations for department stores. Surrounding her are dozens of carpenters, painters and electricians all busily working to transform her illustrated children's book, The Gift (Glitterati Books, 2003), into holiday windows for Saks Fifth Avenue. This is a perilous enterprise, as the original magic can easily be lost in the new version.