The Sarasota-Manatee market will soon be without a Saks Fifth Avenue store for the first time in 30 years.
The retailer, in a Saturday note to customers, says it will be closing its location at the Mall at University Town Center in the UTC district, just outside Lakewood Ranch, at the end of May. “As part of our broader evaluation of our store footprint, we have made the difficult decision to close our Saks Sarasota location,” the company says.
The closing is part of a company-wide move to shutter locations in the wake of a January bankruptcy filing from Saks’ parent company, Saks Global. With holdings that include Saks 5th Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Off 5th, Last Call and Horchow, Saks Global reported it had between $1 billion and $10 billion in debt when it filed for bankruptcy Jan. 13 in Houston…