Saks pulls out of Amazon’s online store and cites lack of meaningful brand participation

Luxury retailer Saks Global is closing out its e-commerce partnership with Amazon, after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month.

Saks said the decision was based on low demand to join its Amazon store.

“The Saks on Amazon storefront saw limited brand participation,” Darcy Penick, president and chief commercial officer of Saks Global, wrote in an email to employees, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

“This decision follows a thorough review and reflects our goal of prioritizing the areas of our business that present the greatest opportunity for sustainable, long-term growth for our company and partners,” Penick added, per WSJ.

However, the dynamics of the equation looked shaky in January when Amazon went to court asking a federal judge to reject Saks Global’s bankruptcy filing so Amazon could recover its equity investment.

The Saks partnership began with Amazon’s $475 million investment in the company in 2024, with Saks agreeing to sell on Amazon’s online store and pay the e-commerce giant at least $900 million over eight years.

With Saks on board, Amazon was meant to further cement its presence in the higher-end of the luxury market, after spelling success in the beauty category.

The Saks-Amazon breakup has brought the spotlight back to building brand experience over chasing scale. While marketplaces offer reach, direct customer relationships might be worth more than distribution deals—even with Amazon.

“Partnerships like this can look perfect on paper, reach, efficiency, convenience, but if the fundamentals aren’t aligned from the start, they’re hard to sustain,” Christina E. Langbort, director of business development at Hilldun Corporation, a fashion financier, wrote in a LinkedIn post.

“Amazon is built for frictionless scale,” Langbort added. “Luxury is built on context, curation, and controlled access. Those models don’t naturally reinforce each other.”