Saks to Close Downtown Cincinnati Store

Saks Fifth Avenue (New York) will finally abandon its embattled store in downtown Cincinnati and become an anchor of the suburban Kenwood Collection.

The switch had been in the works before Saks was acquired by The Hudson’s Bay Co. (Toronto) earlier in the fall.

The two-level, 80,000-square-foot store is scheduled to open in spring 2016.

The Cincinnati Business Courier calls the decision “a blow to the city of Cincinnati, which was working to retain Saks by creating an urban retail corridor that would complement Saks and its downtown department store neighbor, Macy’s.”

Macy’s, of course, has its corporate headquarters in Cincinnati.

Saks opened the Cincinnati store in 1983. Small by the chain’s standards, it never performed particularly well and Saks’ previous owners repeatedly threatened to close it.

The city has given public money to Saks several times to keep the retailer downtown. In 1996, Saks received a $2.1 million package for updates. In 2003, Saks received $6.6 million in city funds for renovations and extended its downtown lease by another 15 years.

Saks also pledged not to open another store within 30 miles for at least seven years, but loopholes in the contract have apparently voided that limitation.