Saks Global Vendors Say They Still Aren’t Being Paid

Saks Global’s overdue payments problem reportedly continues to plague the department store.

As Retail Dive reported Friday (Aug. 8), the company told analysts in June it had mostly settled things with vendors who were angry about overdue invoices. 

However, vendors in communication with the news outlet said the company has yet to follow through on payments that had been set to resume this summer.

In an email to Saks’ payables department last week, Sunday Riley Modern Skincare said the retailer’s team had promised the brand would “start obtaining your 12 payment installments in July 2025.” Sunday Riley warned it would turn over the matter to its legal department if the account wasn’t paid in full.

“Please understand your account with us is not only severely outstanding but you have failed to follow through with your commitment,” the skin care company added.

Other brands, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Retail Dive that, in addition to dealing with delinquent repayments, they also worry that Saks could remove them from its roster if they complain. PYMNTS has contacted Saks for comment but has not yet gotten a reply.

This is the latest in a series of reports about Saks vendors waiting on payments, beginning with a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) story last August, soon after the company’s announcement of its $2.7 billion merger with fellow department store chain Neiman Marcus.

A follow-up WSJ report in February said Saks had issued a memo to its vendors telling them it could take some time to be repaid. The company said it would pay for new orders within 80 days of receipt, with past-due payments covered in 12 installments beginning in July.

“I understand and am sympathetic to the last 18 months and the challenges regarding payments,” Saks Global CEO Marc Metrick wrote in the memo. “Our expectation is that this provides the clarity and certainty you have been seeking. To that end, we are looking forward to seeing the flow of merchandise return to normal levels.”

And in April, Bloomberg news reported that Saks had told its creditors that it has improved its vendor relationships and bolstered its inventory since launching a plan in February to pay past-due balances over the course of a year.

Writing about the Sakes/Neiman Marcus merger last year, PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster wrote that it was happening amid a tough time for department stores, with sales 50% below their peak in 2000, and 30% below where they were in the 1980s.

“It’s hard to understand what people mean when they say, ‘department stores are back.’ Back from what, exactly? Coming back from zero sales during COVID to levels which don’t even match sales made four decades ago is hardly a comeback story worth writing,” Webster wrote.

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