👉 Background: Saks Fifth Avenue is the luxury department store that opened in 1867 and has grown into 42 different locations across the US, Canada and even Kazakhstan. Neiman Marcus, on the other hand, is another luxury department store that went into bankruptcy during the pandemic.

👉 What happened: While Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus have always been rivals, they are now becoming one. Saks Fifth Avenue's parent company has acquired luxury retailer Neiman Marcus for $2.65 billion USD.

👉 What else: It ain’t just Saks’ parent company investing in Neiman Marcus —  Amazon and Salesforce are also tipping into this deal as the luxury department store market has softened.

What's the key learning?

💡The appeal of bricks-and-mortar department stores is fading as online brand shopping takes centre stage.

💡But when consumer spending drops, even online luxury retailers are taking a hit. The online luxury retailer Farfetch was sold for a fraction of what it was previously worth because it required emergency funding. And Matches was sold and then put into administration just three months later.

💡Amazon has been working to expand into luxury fashion over the past few years so this investment  would give them access to luxury products, physical department stores and data that it desperately needs to expand.