Saks, Swiss Panic, Handbag Freefall and Starbucks

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It’s official: Saks has once again lopped off more staff, as if the retail guillotine in midtown hasn’t been sharp enough over the past 12 months. Every quarter, the brand formerly known as aspirational luxury seems to shed more bodies than a Bravo cast shake-up. When your business plan reads like Survivor: Fifth Avenue Edition, it smells less like a turnaround and more like a death spiral in stilettos. Saks’ senior team even took store managers to lunch at the famous Zodiac Room in the iconic Neiman’s downtown Dallas tomb. It is like having a family dinner inside the cemetery mausoleum!

Meanwhile in Switzerland, the watch aristocracy is hyperventilating into their hand-stitched leather straps. Rolex, Patek, and the usual suspects flooded the U.S. with inventory ahead of Trump’s tariff tantrum, creating what can only be described as a horological Costco. CEOs whispered, “supply chain optimization” while really meaning “dump the goods before the tax man cometh.” Now that the tariff panic has fizzled, they’re staring at mountains of unsold wrist candy and here’s the kicker, the secondary market is stronger than ever. WatchCharts, Chrono24, Sotheby’s… pick your poison. Buyers trust Bob’s Watches more than they trust the Geneva mothership.

Not that handbags are faring any better. The women’s handbag business, once the sacred ATM of luxury margins, is in freefall. Millennials and Gen Z are rejecting four-figure leather totes in favor of “quiet luxury” canvas sacks that look like they were stolen from an organic farmer’s market. Hermès still has a Birkin waiting list long enough to be its own zip code, but look on Insta and for $149.00 you can buy the new canvas “Boatkin”. Today’s buyer wants utility, crossbody practicality, and cheap chic that doesn’t scream divorce settlement. The RealReal is laughing all the way to the bank. The resale giant just posted record numbers, proving that today’s “luxury shopper” would rather buy your discarded Chanel flap bag than step foot in your flagship. Forget “new-season must-have”—the new status flex is, “I got it cheaper, greener, and without your haughty sales associate side-eye.” Secondary has officially become primary.

Finally, let’s revisit tariffs…remember those? The bogeyman that sent Switzerland into a frenzy and had analysts hyperventilating on CNBC? Turns out the panic is over, like most political dramas. The U.S. luxury consumer is still out there, still swiping Platinum’s with reckless abandon, still willing to pay triple for champagne at polo matches (we’ve been there!) The industry’s hysteria over tariffs looks, in hindsight, like a toddler’s tantrum in the Ritz Kids Club. A lot of noise, some broken toys, and over once the sugar high wears off.

Lastly, Starbucks continues to write scribble on the $3.88 black coffee-lid soaked-burnt brew scorching hot hand burner without sleeves, while yelling ‘hola!’ as you walk in. Boy, do I miss Italy.