Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know
Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.
Coming in hot: Saks.com has landed “up to $60 million in incremental liquidity” from a lender syndicate led by Pathlight Capital and Bank of America that enables the retailer to maintain “low debt levels,” a spokesperson told WWD.
“The additional capital enhances our financial position as we continue to navigate the challenging macro-environment,” the spokesperson said.
Saks increased its term loan with Pathlight to $215 million. The retailer may also be able to access $20 million more in the future.
Long road ahead: The department store appears to have struggled with liquidity recently; last fall, many vendors accused Saks of not paying them, and some brands stopped shipping products to the retailer. Late or nonpayments can be an indicator of financial trouble.
Addressing the issue in December, CEO Marc Metrick wrote a letter to vendors claiming the company had “sufficient liquidity and a sound balance sheet.”
“As we carefully manage our business against the industry wide softness in the US luxury market, we are confident in our ability to continue meeting our financial obligations,” he said, according to Women’s Wear Daily.
Furthermore, research from Creditsafe found that Saks has consistently been late with vendor payments, especially since October 2023, CNBC reported.
“This is just us managing our business very aggressively,” Metrick previously told WWD. “We don’t love it. But we want to be very communicative with people. We are actually very close to finalizing a capital raise for Saks.com this quarter. That should give people more comfort if they need it.”