Saks Fifth Avenue Cancels Holiday Light Display

New York—Saks Fifth Avenue has cancelled its holiday lights display this year.

This year’s display would have marked the 20th anniversary of this New York City holiday tradition.

The department store’s New York flagship usually displays an LED light show across its façade from the end of November through early January, but Saks has confirmed that there will be no show in 2024.

While the news broke on social media based on employees’ accounts, a representative from Saks told the New York Post earlier this week that it has been a “challenging year for luxury, and, like others, we are carefully managing our business to ensure the company is best-positioned for the future.”

A Saks Fifth Avenue spokesperson told National Jeweler via email that “for many years, the holidays at Saks Fifth Avenue included a light show at our flagship store, and, for some time, we have contemplated changing our approach.”

Instead of the light display, “we are celebrating the season by honoring the architectural significance of this iconic building, elegantly illuminating the façade and framing the holiday windows, as well as highlighting the fashion for which Saks Fifth Avenue is known for,” said the spokesperson.

“We look forward to welcoming customers to our holiday windows throughout the season and invite them to discover inspiring gifts and unique holiday offerings within the Saks Fifth Avenue New York Flagship.”

The news of the cancelation of Saks’ light display seems sudden since the company posted a press release last month detailing this year’s display as a light show illuminating the façade while festive jingles play throughout the holiday season.

It also goes on to name Mastercard as the sponsor of its holiday windows and light display for the 15th consecutive year. The New York Times report said that the cancelation of the light show is not related to the company’s relationship with Mastercard.

The lights would have accompanied Saks’ holiday windows that are still set to show fashion from the top names in luxury with colorful snowflake fragments, dichroic vinyl, and silver harlequin flooring that is echoed inside the store.

The cancellation follows Saks Fifth Avenue letting go of about 100 employees, about one percent of its workforce, and reshuffling executives in late July.

Saks has also been reported to allegedly owe hundreds of thousands of dollars to vendors, according to Glossy, with one vendor said to be owed $15,000 for product that was allegedly delivered and sold to customers.

In a statement to Forbes, Saks said, “Any delayed payments are due to navigating our business through the current challenging macroeconomic environment.”

However, Forbes highlighted that the statement does not address the condition of its business.

Less than a month before the reported layoffs this summer, the department store’s parent company HBC, had entered into an agreement to acquire Neiman Marcus, in a deal valued at $2.65 billion.

HBC came in at No. 15 on National Jeweler’s “$100 Million Supersellers” list with $524 million in watch and jewelry sales in its fiscal year which ended Jan. 31, 2024.