I went to Saks Fifth Avenue to see why the iconic department store was struggling. Hours later, it filed for bankruptcy.

"Late Tuesday night, Saks Global - the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, and Neiman Marcus - filed for bankruptcy in Texas. The news came after more than a year of missing payments to vendors and piling on precarious debt. Saks owes hundreds of millions of dollars to creditors, and debt analysts and fashion insiders that Business Insider has spoken with have said to expect store closures and layoffs."

"The Saks that I visited earlier that Tuesday was decidedly not the mothership of my childhood, and whatever energy that allowed it to outlast so many other greats, from Bendel's to Barney's, was missing. The store's blacked-out window displays, which were being changed out after the holiday season, were foreboding. "Creative installation in progress," a sign said. Indeed, my visit showed me Saks could use a creative refresh."

Childhood memories included visits to Barney's, Bloomingdale's, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, and the magnetic Saks Fifth Avenue. For over a century Saks Fifth Avenue epitomized a quintessential luxury American department store with festive displays and a bustling main floor. Late Tuesday night Saks Global filed for bankruptcy in Texas after more than a year of missed vendor payments and mounting precarious debt, owing hundreds of millions to creditors, with closures and layoffs expected. The flagship store displayed blacked-out windows, a foreboding sign about a creative installation, a 2019 redesign toward cold modernism, and a noticeably sterile, sparsely trafficked main floor. Saks declined to comment.

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