Saks Fifth Avenue

Big American department store which, since it first opened in 1924 in Fifth Avenue, has generated a business empire, with chains of stores across the United States. It was founded by Horface Saks and Bernard Gimbel and has survived on the back of the big labels to become a major attraction, aimed at the higher, more refined class of consumer interested in fashion. The chain has 12,000 employees. In the last 15 years, it has has changed hands twice: first to the British Group BAT Industries and then to Investcorp.