Saks Fifth Avenue at New Orleans’ Canal Place since the 1980s, to close for good

This is a pretty significant blow to Canal Street and to shopping in the New Orleans area at large. We will no longer have any upscale department store in the Gulf South.

The bigger issue is there is no question that most of the retail stores in Canal Place have co-tenancy clauses in their leases. This will allow them to terminate their leases the second that Saks closes its doors. The closest upscale department store will be in Houston or Atlanta.

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NOLA

Saks Global, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, announced Tuesday that it will close eight Saks Fifth Avenue stores and one Neiman Marcus around the country.

The Canal Place store will remain open until the end of April, according to a statement from a company spokesperson.

“As part of Saks Global’s ongoing evaluation of its physical footprint, we have made the decision to close select Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus locations, including the Saks Fifth Avenue New Orleans location, based on a number of factors, including performance and lease economics," it said.

The announcement is a blow to retail on Canal Street, New Orleans' historic shopping corridor that has gradually seen the departure of department stores and high end retailers over the past several decades. In November, Adler's announced it is closing its luxury jewelry store down the street from Saks after more than 120 years in business.

Four of the stores slated for closure are in markets that already have another store owned by Saks Global, also the parent company of Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman.

Other Saks Global locations set to close this spring include Birmingham, Alabama; Columbus, Ohio; Richmond, Virginia; Tulsa, Oklahoma; East Rutherford, New Jersey; Philadelphia; and Phoenix, the later three of which have other Saks or Neiman stores.