The parent company behind Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus is struggling to stay on the top side of the K-shaped economy.

Saks Global is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the coming days after the luxury retail giant failed to pay a more than $100M interest bill Tuesday. The New York-based company missed the payment to bondholders and is talking with its creditors about financing for the bankruptcy process, The Wall Street Journal first reported, citing anonymous sources.

Saks Global operates roughly 70 locations across Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Off 5th and Neiman Marcus, which it acquired in July 2024 in a $2.7B deal.

That Amazon-backed merger consolidated two storied department store brands in the luxury space, but it saddled the newly formed Saks Global company with new debt that the retailer has struggled to service, the WSJ reported.

Saks has also intermittently delayed vendor payments since the acquisition, which has led distributors to hold back some top product offerings, keeping merchandise off shelves and further weighing on sales.

Saks didn’t respond to Bisnow’s request for comment and declined to comment to the WSJ. Bloomberg also confirmed the bankruptcy talks with anonymous sources.

Saks Global shuttered Neiman Marcus’ office headquarters in February in a cost-savings move after just two years in the Dallas tower. The flagship Neiman Marcus location that sat in Downtown Dallas for more than a century was slated for closure in March. Negotiations have kept it open, but its future is uncertain.

Saks Global reported a net loss of $288M on $1.6B for the quarter ending on Aug. 2, a 13% decline from the prior year. It has been looking to raise money through store sales, including its iconic Beverly Hills property, and by selling a 49% stake of Bergdorf Goodman.

Saks raised $600M in new capital through bonds in June as it faced another cash shortage for a $120M payment on the $2.2B in debt that financed the Neiman Marcus acquisition. Delayed payments and investors’ concerns over cash flow pushed the price of Saks’ $2.2B bond package down to under 35 cents on the dollar in mid-2025, down from 97 cents at the end of 2024.

S&P Global gave the bonds a CCC rating in September, with the junk status reflecting the significant likelihood of default.

“While the new capital structure provides a much-needed infusion of cash, we expect liquidity will be rapidly depleted by the investments required to stabilize the business amid a challenging macroeconomic environment,” the ratings note said.

A Saks bankruptcy would mark the first major department store to restructure since the pandemic as big-box retailers took the brunt of headwinds in the last few years. The pain of the luxury-focused chain is an anomaly as affluent consumers are largely propping up the retail landscape.

Investors have also been warming back up to malls — with 38 single-asset deals closing in the first three quarters of 2025 matching the total for all of 2024 — as the best-in-class shopping centers that are frequently anchored by luxury retailers emerge from the pandemic resilient and unbattered.