The Department Store Crisis: Terry Lundgren & Jan Rogers Kniffen on Saks Global Bankruptcy and What The Future Holds for Department Stores

The department store industry just witnessed one of its most dramatic collapses. When Saks Global filed for bankruptcy in early 2026, it marked the end of an ambitious—but fatally flawed—attempt to merge two luxury retail icons.

For Terry Lundgren, former Chairman and CEO of Macy's, and Jan Rogers Kniffen, one of retail's most respected strategists, the failure was inevitable. "Putting two very weak financially organizations together will not make anything other than one big financially weak organization," Lundgren warned before the deal even closed.

In this episode of The Retail Pilot, host Ken Pilot brings together two industry veterans who've navigated mergers, bankruptcies, and retail transformation for decades. They reveal what killed Saks Global, why some department stores will survive while others won't, and what the retail landscape will look like in 2026 and beyond.

In this episode you'll learn:

Why the Saks Global and Neiman Marcus merger was "DOA" from the beginning and what red flags signaled the collapse

How Terry Lundgren successfully executed one of retail's most successful acquisitions: the May Department Stores deal that created a national Macy's footprint

Why department stores aren't broken—just overleveraged—and how the right balance sheet can save the model

The "My Macy's" strategy: How localized assortments and 70 district buying teams drove billion-dollar growth

The marketplace opportunity: How third-party sellers can expand assortments without inventory risk

Why physical stores still matter and how to make them "fun" again with experiential retail, restaurants, and curated galleries

Walmart's dominance: How they're "firing on all cylinders" and taking market share from Target, Kohl's, and JCPenney

Amazon's retail store struggles and why they should "buy somebody that has stores and let them run it"