Lupo Quoted on Tips for Brands After Saks Global Bankruptcy Filing

Tony said that he and his team have advised vendors on what to do in this situation, having published a blog post at the end of December. 

Tony said that the brands that sell to Saks Global properties fall into a variety of camps, with some being able to negotiate their status as “critical vendors,” meaning their goods are “particularly important for the debtor to remain operational” and others may sell on consignment and could try to get their products back. He added that a third, though rare, option is for a vendor to obtain insurance against Saks Global.

Tony added that small- and medium-sized brands are likely to be in the “same boat as other unsecured creditors” and are likely to get paid only after secured creditors.

“If you go into that pool, you’ll get a certain amount of money, probably 10 cents on the dollar [at the direction of the court],” he said. “But, you also have the ability in the future to say [to Saks], ‘I want cash on delivery. I want a trustee backing it up.’ You could create other deals. We have clients that Saks is already reaching out to right now, trying to do deals going forward.”

Tony said that many of his clients are still open to working with Saks Global in some capacity. 

“If you’re a small brand and you can afford it, you want to be in a Bergdorf,” he said. “…there are not a lot of places to go in the US” for a luxury brand. “I think they do want to still be there — they [just] want to protect themselves.”

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