Saks Off 5th, the off-price division of Saks Global, is vacating its 57th Street location in Manhattan, WWD has learned.
Sources said the building housing Saks Off Fifth, located in an office tower at 125 East 57th Street near Lexington Avenue, was sold to a new owner, who plans to create residences on the site, meaning there will be construction disrupting business at the store. One source said that due to the impending construction, which is seen occurring over at least two years, Saks Off 5th officials decided to vacate the space. It’s not clear whether other factors were involved in the decision. However, the store will continue to be open for business through the holiday season.
In response to a query from WWD, a Saks Off 5th spokesperson provided the following statement:
“Under new ownership, the building housing our 57th Street location in New York City has been reclassified from commercial to residential. As part of this reclassification and the resulting construction over a two-year period, we have made the decision to exit our New York City location as of December 31, 2025. As a New York City-based company, we are deeply committed to our local customers. They may continue to shop at our 57th Street location through the holiday season, and we look forward to continuing to serve our shoppers at our other tri-state area locations and online at SaksOff5th.com.”
When the Saks Off 5th store opened in 2016, it raised some eyebrows, considering it was only seven blocks from the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship. Some of Off 5th’s merchandise is discounted goods from designers that can also be found at the regular-priced Saks Fifth Avenue stores. The Off 5th store is also just two blocks away from Bloomingdale’s 59th Street flagship, which also carries designer labels.
The 57th Street Saks Off 5th occupies approximately 47,000 square feet over two levels, making it desirable for another retailer or brand to open a large store there in the future.
When the Off 5th store opened, Off 5th was considered a major growth vehicle, geared to compete against Nordstrom Rack and other off-pricers.
The 57th Street Off 5th location featured the first Gilt in-store shop, marking Gilt’s entry into brick-and-mortar retail. New products from top brands, at least in its early days, were arriving almost daily, providing compelling reasons for shoppers to visit the store often to see what they might discover.
At the time, Gilt and Saks Off 5th was part of Hudson’s Bay Co.’s portfolio of retail brands, which also included Saks Fifth Avenue and the Hudson’s Bay department stores. The retail landscape has dramatically changed since then; Gilt was sold to Rue La La in 2018, Saks Global was formed and Hudson’s Bay was liquidated earlier this year.
