Saks OFF 5TH to open at the Tuscany Place Designer Outlets

New York, NY (January 18, 2011) —Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH today announced that it has signed a letter of intent to open a new store at the Tuscany Place Designer Outlets, a new, upscale pedestrian-friendly lifestyle outlet development in Madison (metropolitan Jackson), MS. The center and the Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH store are expected to open in the spring of 2012.

“We look forward to opening our first Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH store in Mississippi where the temperate climate allows for year round shopping,” noted Robert Wallstrom, President of Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH. “We are excited to join the retail community of Madison and metro Jackson to offer customers a wide variety of the latest fashion and high quality merchandise as well as exceptional service.”

The new store will be 20,000 square feet and is to be modeled in Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH’s innovative ‘luxury in a loft’ store design that debuted in 2008. This OFF 5TH store layout is modern, uncluttered, easy to shop, and includes open floor plans, moveable fixtures, and bright lighting.

The Madison store will offer a wide selection of luxury brands in key merchandise categories including apparel for the entire family, fine jewelry, shoes, handbags, and sunglasses.

Madison customers will be able to participate in Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH’s MORE! Rewards loyalty program. This free program offers weekly discounts, sales and promotions on merchandise throughout the store.

An operations center housing several support functions including information technology services, accounting services, supply purchasing, credit services, and customer call center

Mark Libell

Saks OFF 5th opening two new locations.

Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5th will open two 28,000-square-foot shops in 2011 in Oklahoma City and Charleston, S.C., in August and October, respectively.

The New York-based retailer's first store in Oklahoma will be in the under-construction Outlet Shoppes at Oklahoma City. The South Carolina store will open in the Tanger Outlet Center in North Charleston. Saks' 2011 plan includes relocating the Hilton Head store next summer.

Saks operates 58 OFF 5th stores in 23 states in addition to its 47-store chain of traditional bricks-and-mortar locations and an online store, saks.com.

SOURCE: CityBiz Real Estate

Saks OFF 5th moves to Tanger Outlet in Hilton Head

NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH today announced that it plans to relocate its Hilton Head, South Carolina store from the Mall at Shelter Cove to a new store in the Tanger Outlet Center in Hilton Head in the summer of 2011. Tanger's Hilton Head I Outlet Center is currently undergoing a major renovation and expansion, scheduled for completion in spring 2011.

"Hilton Head is a great market for Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH, where we have many loyal customers. We look forward to relocating to the newly renovated and expanded Tanger Outlet Center, which will be the premier destination for outlet shoppers in this vibrant market," noted Robert Wallstrom, President of Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH. "Our new store will allow us to even better showcase our unique product and great service."

The new Tanger Outlet Hilton Head I location will be the 13th OFF 5TH location to be modeled in Saks Fifth Avenue's innovative 'luxury in a loft' store design that debuted in 2008. This OFF 5TH store design is modern, uncluttered, easy to shop, and includes open floor plans, moveable fixtures, and bright lighting.

The new Hilton Head store will offer an increased luxury brand selection as well as expanded key merchandise categories including fine jewelry, shoes, handbags, sunglasses and contemporary sportswear.

Saks returns to profitability by reducing inventory

Cutting both promotions and inventory as its revenue rose helped luxury retailer Saks Inc. return to profitability in its first quarter and surpass Wall Street's expectations. Saks dramatically pulled back on ordering as the recession took hold, and it has worked with designers to lower its selling prices. Both moves have helped its results.

The upscale chain is considered a barometer of luxury spending, so industry watchers will closely check its performance for signs that its customers are resuming shopping as the economy begins to improve.The retailer indicated during a conference call with analysts that its shoppers are purchasing fewer items but at higher prices, a sign that high-end consumers are willing to spend more now for things they want.

For the period that ended May 1, Saks' net income was $18.8 million, or 11 cents per share. It reported a loss of $5.1 million, or 4 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue climbed 7 percent to $667.4 million from $624.3 million as shoppers picked up women's and men's clothing, handbags, shoes and jewelry at its Saks Fifth Avenue stores. Excluding one-time charges of a penny per share mostly related to severance pay and store closing costs, Saks earned 12 cents per share.

Wall Street analysts polled by Thomson Reuters on average expected a smaller profit of 5 cents per share on revenue of $662.9 million. They typically exclude one-time items.

Revenue at stores open at least a year rose 6.1 percent. This figure is a key indicator of a retailer's performance because it isn't skewed by results from stores that opened or closed during the year.

Saks reduced its consolidated inventories by 9.9 percent to $702.1 million. The retailer also is honing its business by closing less profitable stores. The chain said Monday that it plans to shut its Saks Fifth Avenue store in Charleston, S.C., by July 17. It previously announced plans to close stores in Portland, Ore., and San Diego in July.

While pleased with the company's quarterly performance, Sadove said in a statement that Saks is approaching the rest of the year with caution because the economy remains uncertain. Saks predicts its revenue at stores open at least a year will rise by a percentage in the mid-single digits for the full year and for the second half of the year, but it forecasts slower growth in the current quarter.

Source: Inside the Bay Area - The Oakland Tribune By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer

Saks OFF 5th Continues Its Growth

New OFF 5TH stores will open in metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Portland, Oregon; Houston, Texas; and Raleigh/Greensboro, North Carolina, and the OFF 5TH store in Riverhead, New York is undergoing renovation. The new OFF 5TH stores will range between approximately 23,500 and 29,000 square feet.

Robert Wallstrom, President of OFF 5TH, noted, "We are very pleased to continue the growth underway at OFF 5TH." The new and renovated stores will mirror the Company's innovative prototype store which opened with much success in 2008 in Orlando, Florida. Since then, the Company has opened ten new-formatted OFF 5TH stores across the country. The new OFF 5TH store design features a "luxury in a loft environment" that is modern and easy to shop including open floor plans, moveable fixtures, and brighter lighting. These new stores also feature enhanced merchandise offerings in several categories including jewelry, shoes, sunglasses and skincare.

Wallstrom continued, "Not only does our new format better showcase our merchandise selections and create a wonderful shopping environment, but we also have enhanced customer service through increased staffing."

For the full story you can visit MarketWatch