"Baker's vision of building and helming a luxury retail empire, putting Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Off 5th all under the Saks Global corporate umbrella, came crashing down last January when the retail conglomerate filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Scores of vendors are owed millions of dollars after being stiffed for several years, even while Baker and his team gave assurances that all would work out and that the combination of Saks and Neiman's would eventually thrive."
"It was the latest in a string of retail bankruptcies that occurred while Baker controlled them - including Canada's iconic department store Hudson's Bay, which was liquidated and Fortunoff's which was largely liquidated - or soon after he sold them off. Lord & Taylor went bankrupt shortly after Baker sold it to Le Tote, and Kaufhof in Germany went bankrupt after Baker sold it to Signa Corp."
Richard Baker pursued rapid, high-risk retail acquisitions, buying Lord &u0026 Taylor in 2006, Hudson's Bay and Fortunoff's in 2008, and Saks in 2013 under NRDC Equity Partners. The combined Saks Global empire later filed for Chapter 11, leaving scores of vendors owed millions after years of unpaid bills even amid assurances of recovery. Several chains Baker controlled either went bankrupt under his ownership or soon after he sold them, including Hudson's Bay, Fortunoff's, Lord &u0026 Taylor and Kaufhof. Baker profited from retail real estate sales and saw occasional sales and profit gains, but some initiatives, like building an office tower atop Lord &u0026 Taylor, were abandoned.
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