ORLANDO, Fla. — Vince Holdings CEO Brendan Hoffman said at the ICR Conference Monday that the apparel brand is monitoring Saks Global’s financial situation “on a minute-by-minute basis.”
The luxury department store business, which sparked bankruptcy speculation after it missed a recent debt payment, accounts for 7% of Vince’s business.
“Wholesale has grown a little bit faster over the last couple of years, as we've gone full bore with Bloomingdale's again and continue to grow Nordstroms,” Hoffman said in his presentation. The brand’s business with Saks Global is “not immaterial, but not nearly as large as some of the other accounts that we've been growing.”
Vince reported Monday that holiday sales rose 5.3%, driven by nearly 10% growth in DTC. Wholesale declined 2.7% in the nine-week period ended Jan. 3.
In the year or so since Saks Global acquired Neiman Marcus, the company has been struggling to pay vendors, souring relationships and hampering its ability to obtain inventory. S&P Global Ratings analysts last week downgraded the department store to “selective default” on its missed interest payment. Those analysts also believe Saks Global is unlikely to make the payment within the 30-day grace period given its liquidity issues.
The department store conglomerate parted ways with CEO Marc Metrick in early January, replacing him with Executive Chairman Richard Baker. Recent reporting suggests Baker may need to exit as a stipulation of bankruptcy funding, which is expected imminently.
In the lead-up to a possible bankruptcy, Saks Global has already lost share — and executives — to competitors including Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s.
