Saks Shuts Its New Orleans Store as Retail Shake‑Up Continues

The flagship Saks Fifth Avenue on Canal Street will close its doors in April 2026. The decision comes as the parent company, Saks Global Enterprises, files for Chapter 11 and trims unprofitable locations nationwide. The New Orleans outlet has been a downtown landmark since the early 1980s, reopening soon after Hurricane Katrina and symbolising the city’s commercial rebound. It sits inside Canal Place, a high‑profile shopping centre that has long relied on Saks as an anchor tenant. Bloomberg reports that the company plans to shut nine stores across the United States—eight Saks locations and a Neiman Marcus in Boston. The moves target sites that struggle to turn profits and are situated in smaller markets with limited growth potential.Local business leaders fear the closure will reduce foot traffic, cut jobs and lower spending for neighbouring shops. Chanel left Canal Place earlier this year, and Anthropologie has moved to Lakeside, signalling a shift in the district’s retail mix. Saks is also eliminating most of its Fifth Avenue Club styling suites and shifting the Horchow home décor brand online. The strategy focuses on profitable stores, reduces debt, and encourages more shoppers to use the e‑commerce platform. Even after the physical store shuts down, customers can still explore luxury goods and receive personal styling advice through Saks. com. The company’s email to the press highlighted performance, lease costs and strategic fit as key reasons for the closures.