Saks & Hudson's Bay merger to see exit of top brass

Donald Hess, Lead Director of Saks’ Board of Directors, commented, “Steve and Ron have been a great team over the last nine years. They are admired and respected throughout both the Company and the retail industry. Their leadership, strategic focus, collaboration, creativity, and enthusiasm for the business have molded Saks into an iconic omni-channel luxury retailer.

"Together, they have created an exceptional management team, a special company culture, and a distinct fashion point of view. Through their leadership, the whole is truly so much greater than the sum of the parts."

Sadove and Frasch jointly commented, “Saks has a great team, and working together, we have all accomplished so much over the last several years. We have developed and executed focused merchandising, marketing and service strategies. We survived the recession and emerged a stronger, more disciplined organization.

“We have continued to modernize the Saks brand and elevate and differentiate our merchandise assortments. Our marketing efforts have become even more strategic and targeted, and our brand and image marketing is among the best in the industry. We have elevated our service levels and demonstrated our commitment to giving and to our communities through our very special charity affiliations. We have strengthened our balance sheet and improved our real estate.

“We have built a powerful saks.com business and transformed Saks OFF 5TH into an aggressive growth story. And, through key technology enhancements, innovative thinking and collaboration, our evolution to an omni-channel retailer has been a game changer.”

Sadove and Frasch continued, “We have best-in-class talent, fashion and style authority, great vendor partnerships, and a record of innovation. We are extremely proud of the legacy that we are leaving to HBC.”

The planned merger transaction between Saks and HBC has been approved by each company's board of directors and is expected to close before the end of the calendar year, subject to approval by Saks shareholders and other customary closing conditions.

Saks Incorporated currently operates 41 Saks Fifth Avenue stores, 69 Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH stores, and saks.com.

Saks Inc