Saks to close Tysons Galleria store, laying off 70 workers

New York-headquartered luxury retailer Saks Global Enterprises plans to close its Saks Fifth Avenue store at the Tysons Galleria, laying off 70 employees between May 6 and May 31.

The company announced the closure of the store at 2051 International Drive in Tysons in a letter sent Friday to the state under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. The store was one of Tysons Galleria’s original anchor stores when the mall opened in 1988. Brookfield Properties, the owner of the 800,000-square-foot mall, did not immediately return a request for comment on what the company plans to do with the property after Saks moves out.

The same day Saks sent the WARN notice, it also issued an announcement revealing it planned to close 15 stores nationwide — 12 Saks Fifth Avenue stores and three Neiman Marcus locations. The Tysons Galleria site was among the locations listed.

Last week’s announcement builds on a February announcement that it would close eight Saks Fifth Avenue stores — including the location at Stony Point Fashion Park in Richmond — and one Neiman Marcus store as part of a store footprint-refining process. This means that a total of 24 stores will close by the end of this spring.

Saks filed for bankruptcy protection in January, marking one of the biggest retail collapses since COVID. The bankruptcy filing came just a year after a deal meant to form a luxury retail powerhouse combined Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus under one umbrella.

“This strategic optimization is part of our ongoing transformation and rooted in our long-term view of our business,” Saks Global CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck said in a statement. “Our go-forward store portfolio will comprise the best performing and most desirable locations in markets with the highest concentration of luxury customers, enabling us to deepen loyalty and drive sustainable growth.

“With a refined footprint,” he continued, “we are creating a stronger platform for our brand partners and an even more compelling customer experience as we focus on investing in the luxury experience, sharpening the differentiation of our coveted banners and fully leveraging our prime owned and other retail locations.”

Saks said the laid off employees at Tysons Galleria are not represented by any union and do not have any bumping rights. More than half of the positions were sales associates and beauty specialists.

Saks said last week that, with the announcement of the 15 additional closures, it has largely completed “the optimization of its footprint,” but continues to engage with landlords as it works to make final decisions on its store network. The company said there are no changes to the Bergdorf Goodman operational footprint.

“We recognize the impact these strategic decisions have on our colleagues and are deeply grateful for their contributions,” van Raemdonck said. “We are supporting the impacted teams as much as we can through this transition and will provide transfer opportunities where available.”