Saks Fifth Avenue Is Opening a Men's Store in Downtown Manhattan

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Whether it's due to a shift in the economy or a shift in customers, it's clear that Saks Fifth Avenue is going through some serious reshuffling. In addition to the three-year restoration of the luxury department store's retail flagship, its Financial District debut, and the opening of Saks Off Fifth locations throughout the city — including a just-announced fancy East 57th Street location set for next spring — the company is also branching out into more specified store set-ups, with the New York Times reporting that a menswear-only storefront is headed downtown.

The exact opening date and even the location of the Saks men's store couldn't be disclosed by Saks representatives when we reached out this morning [Update: The New York Post reports on December 11th that the address is 250 Vesey Street]. The first merchandise-specific store it announced was 10022-shoe-only outpost that's coming to Greenwich, Connecticut next fall.

The Times speculates that this could be Saks's attempt at keeping its head above water in a time when department stores are increasingly losing relevance, citing that both Macy's and Nordstrom recently reported a drop in sales, These renovations and expansions are an effort to bring a little of the old-fashioned extravagance and comfort back to department store shopping, and perhaps sway customers away from the tempting option of e-commerce.