Saks Fifth Avenue is a chain of upscale department stores. The flagship store was opened by Horace Saks in 1924 on Fifth Avenue (hence the name) in New York City.
The Saks family had operated stores since 1902, but in 1923 they merged with Gimbel's and concentrated the upscale business in the Saks Fifth Avenue store. The chain business stayed on the East Coast and the Midwest of the United States until the mid 1990s.
After 1995 it expanded its business to the West Coast and opened branch stores in other affluent areas including Beverly Hills and Stanford Shopping Center. It was in the Beverly Hills Saks Fifth Avenue that Winona Ryder was caught shoplifting.
In addition to sixty-one Saks Fifth Avenue stores and fifty-two Saks Off Fifth stores, the parent company, Saks Inc., operates 244 department stores under the names of Parisian, Proffitt's, McRae's, Younkers, Herberger's, Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's and Boston Store.
Competitors include Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdales.
