Brian Kendrick Dies

Brian Kendrick, who as chief operating officer of Saks Fifth Avenue engineered the sale of the luxury retailer to Proffitt's, died Monday of a heart attack. He was 48.

Kendrick, the former cfo of Maison Blanche/Goudchaux in New Orleans, joined Saks in 1990. He soon became cfo and then vice chairman and coo, engineering the initial public offering that made Saks a publicly owned company in 1996. The deal in 1998 made Saks Fifth Avenue a part of Proffitt's, the rising department store chain then based in Memphis, Tenn. Proffitt's subsequently renamed itself Saks Inc.

After the deal with Proffitt's, Kendrick left Saks to work for DFS Group. At the time of his death, he was ceo of Asbury Autogroup, the fourth-largest automotive retailer in the United States (with annual revenue of more than $5 billion). The firm is in the final stages of an initial public offering, which will proceed.