Saks Emerges From Bankruptcy With a New Plan and Corporate Name

Saks Global, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, formally exited bankruptcy on Friday with a new plan to safeguard the remnants of its luxury department store empire and mount a comeback.The company has restructured its debt, closed dozens of stores and cut corporate and store employees since it filed for bankruptcy protection in January.Executives said they planned to emerge with a business focused on high-end shopping and white-glove service, ending an era in which they pushed discount shops and tried to use the company’s real estate holdings as financial leverage.

As part of the transformation, Saks Global changed its corporate name to Exemplar Luxury Group, a nod to the company’s high-end aspirations.The new moniker signaled a fresh start for the business after five months entangled in bankruptcy proceedings, said Geoffroy van Raemdonck, the company’s chief executive.“It’s going to reimagine what the luxury experience is,” he said during an interview at Bergdorf Goodman’s headquarters in Manhattan.

“We’re very realistic that you need to walk before you can run, so there’s different phases, but that new day is so long awaited.”Exemplar’s emergence keeps alive three of the nation’s oldest and most opulent emporiums.Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman stores will retain their names and logos.The new company has slashed its debt by 75 percent and added $500 million in new financing.

The company said it now had the necessary liquidity to operate and reinvest in the business.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe....