Sign and customers at Saks Fifth Avenue.
New Orleans firefighters work to put out a fire at Saks Fifth Avenue on Canal Street after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2005.
A Knights of Chaos float and a Saks Fifth Avenue float during the krewe’s parade in New Orleans on Thursday, February 12, 2026. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
Lunch time shoppers exit Saks Fifth Avenue departments store at One Canal Place opening day in 1983.
Regina Parker tries for size, a Russian Sable full length coat at a cost of $89,500.00 while her friend, Cory Strander looks her over while Christmas shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue in 1985.
The energy level is high. They walk fast, talk fast and are anxious to see their ideas implemented. Saks Fifth Avenue is putting a new corporate team together in New Orleans and the transition is likely to create even more energy for the anchor retailer in New Orleans’ newest posh shopping scene. Saks executives, from left, Deborah Morton, Tricia Potucek, Suzanne Waters and Carolyn Guidry study daily sales report.
Artist’s rendering of Saks Fifth Avenue, lower right, with Canal Place buildings – Saks Fifth Avenue will open one of its high-fashion department stores at the foot of Canal Street early in 1982, the New York-based company announced today. Saks will be located in the retail mall portion of developer Joseph C. Canizaro’s $300 million Canal Place, which also will include offices and a hotel, the announcement said.
Congratulating each other after undraping a sign proclaiming Saks Fifth Avenue will open a store in Canal Place are (from left) former Mayor Moon Landrieu, Lieutenant Governor James E. Fitzmorris, Canal Place developer Joseph C. Canizaro, and Saks Chairman Allan R. Johnson. Landrieu is now chairman of Canal Place. – Developer Joseph C. Canizaro, Lieutenant Governor James E. Fitzmorris and Saks Fifth Avenue chairman Allan R. Johnson had to tug for a minute or so before the drape would come off the sign announcing Saks is coming to Canal Place. Then the drape fell over the lieutenant governor, making him, for a moment, look like a ghost.
Guests dance at Key to the Cure presented by Saks Fifth Avenue and Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium at Saks Fifth Avenue. Wednesday October 15, 2014. (Josh Brasted Photo)
Jewelry holders were for sale at Saks Fifth Avenue at Canal Place on March 31, 2026.
Furniture for sale at Saks Fifth Avenue at Canal Place on March 31, 2026.
Even the frame holding a sign at Saks Fifth Avenue in Canal Place was for sale on March 31, 2026.
Gowns on sale at Saks Fifth Avenue at Canal Place on March 31, 2026.
Sign and customers at Saks Fifth Avenue.
New Orleans firefighters work to put out a fire at Saks Fifth Avenue on Canal Street after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2005.
A Knights of Chaos float and a Saks Fifth Avenue float during the krewe’s parade in New Orleans on Thursday, February 12, 2026. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
The energy level is high. They walk fast, talk fast and are anxious to see their ideas implemented. Saks Fifth Avenue is putting a new corporate team together in New Orleans and the transition is likely to create even more energy for the anchor retailer in New Orleans’ newest posh shopping scene. Saks executives, from left, Deborah Morton, Tricia Potucek, Suzanne Waters and Carolyn Guidry study daily sales report.
Artist’s rendering of Saks Fifth Avenue, lower right, with Canal Place buildings – Saks Fifth Avenue will open one of its high-fashion department stores at the foot of Canal Street early in 1982, the New York-based company announced today. Saks will be located in the retail mall portion of developer Joseph C. Canizaro’s $300 million Canal Place, which also will include offices and a hotel, the announcement said.
Congratulating each other after undraping a sign proclaiming Saks Fifth Avenue will open a store in Canal Place are (from left) former Mayor Moon Landrieu, Lieutenant Governor James E. Fitzmorris, Canal Place developer Joseph C. Canizaro, and Saks Chairman Allan R. Johnson. Landrieu is now chairman of Canal Place. – Developer Joseph C. Canizaro, Lieutenant Governor James E. Fitzmorris and Saks Fifth Avenue chairman Allan R. Johnson had to tug for a minute or so before the drape would come off the sign announcing Saks is coming to Canal Place. Then the drape fell over the lieutenant governor, making him, for a moment, look like a ghost.
Jewelry holders were for sale at Saks Fifth Avenue at Canal Place on March 31, 2026.
Ingrid Lucia was 15 years old the first time she visited Saks Fifth Avenue at Canal Place to gape at the lavish clothing and peruse the fancy perfumes and beauty products.
She couldn’t afford any of the clothes, but she remembers buying a $20 Lancôme facial cleanser that cured a nasty breakout brought on by dancing the cancan while busking on Bourbon Street.
While Saks would remain out of her price range for years to come, Lucia returned to the store many times over its life span to check out the eye candy displayed in the windows and explore the racks of designer clothing with friends.
“Plus,” Lucia said, “part of the tradition of a girl’s dopamine high is to go out, get lost, touch, feel, see, smell, try and have a dream.”
Lunch time shoppers exit Saks Fifth Avenue departments store at One Canal Place opening day in 1983.
On Sunday, more than three decades after that first visit, Lucia shopped at Saks for the last time. The legendary department store closed its New Orleans location Wednesday after more than 40 years as its bankrupt parent company downsizes, a blow to the city’s historic shopping corridor that underscores the challenges downtown businesses and malls have faced in recent years.
After decades as an anchor tenant and supplier of luxury goods at Canal Place, the store’s final days in business were marked by a bittersweet combination of eerie quiet and eye-popping sales on everything from bras and suits to the clothing racks and mannequins holding them.
Gowns on sale at Saks Fifth Avenue at Canal Place on March 31, 2026.
“I do feel like it’s a sad moment,” Lucia said, “because I feel like where are we all gonna go as people if we keep buying stuff online? How are we gonna see people or even know if things fit? It’s just — it’s part of a tradition that is on its way out.”
But, standing outside the second-floor entrance to Saks, arms draped with garment bags overflowing with a heavily discounted gown and other clothing items, Lucia admitted, “I did hit the jackpot.”
Much of the merchandise inside Saks went on clearance as soon as the looming closure was announced in early February. By March 31, the furniture was on sale, too.
Furniture for sale at Saks Fifth Avenue at Canal Place on March 31, 2026.
It was mid-afternoon on a weekday, and the once bustling store was nearly entirely void of customers. But thumping music still echoed through the empty halls. Dozens of naked mannequins gathered in a back room as the handful of employees who were still at work dutifully organized the picked-over clearance racks.
It seemed that every feasible surface and structure in the store had been assessed for value, stuck with a price tag, and put out on display for potential buyers — from vanity counters and display cases that once held designer lipstick and jewelry to the chairs and art that once filled the waiting areas and fitting rooms. Not even the metal frame holding a sign alerting customers of the store’s closure was immune — it was going for $125.
Even the frame holding a sign at Saks Fifth Avenue in Canal Place was for sale on March 31, 2026.
“Everything is for sale,” one employee said as she manned a cash register near the remaining gowns. Another employee paced in a neighboring room, keys jingling, while discussing a potential mannequin sale over the phone.
She wasn’t willing to provide further commentary on the closure, and several other employees declined to comment or provide their names.
Metairie resident Linda Hudgins said she’d been out to Saks a few times since the closure was announced.
“I was pretty shocked walking into the first floor and all the designers had already pulled out,” she said.
Regina Parker tries for size, a Russian Sable full length coat at a cost of $89,500.00 while her friend, Cory Strander looks her over while Christmas shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue in 1985.
It was a far cry from the Saks that opened to fanfare in the 1980s and was once home to major names like Chanel and Dior and fundraising galas attended by titans of New Orleans’ business industry. But the closing sale was a treasure trove for anyone looking for a low price on a nice dress. One tourist in from Orlando, in for a conference, said she’d rushed over to the mall as soon as she’d heard Saks was going out of business.
By Sunday, nearly all the designer clothing had gone and only a few racks of more affordable brands remained. Tourists and locals hunted for the last good deals as employees helped customers load mirrored tables and shelving onto dollies to be hauled away, the sounds of hammering and drilling and general deconstruction ringing through the store.
Guests dance at Key to the Cure presented by Saks Fifth Avenue and Louisiana Cancer Research Consortium at Saks Fifth Avenue. Wednesday October 15, 2014. (Josh Brasted Photo)
Canal Place leadership has said previously that its other tenants are doing well and business at nearby Lakeside Shopping Center is booming, but Hudgins said the options for professional clothing in the area are slowly dwindling.
“(Lakeside) I kind of feel is more geared toward younger people, where this is more for luxury and upscale shopping, and they have age-appropriate clothing to choose from, nice, quality clothing,” Hudgins said. “That’s kind of what Saks was always known for, their quality clothing.”
It was a place where you could find a nice pair of slacks or a tie for work, or a gown for a Mardi Gras ball or fundraiser.
“I’m very sad to see it go, because we have nothing else left here other than the little mini stores that we have on the first floor here,” Hudgins said. “ … This is kind of where you came for luxury shopping.”
Email Kasey Bubnash at kasey.bubnash@theadvocate.com.
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