Saks puts hopes on US$250m, three-year restoration of Fifth Avenue flagship store

New York

MARC Metrick stepped off a freight elevator at Saks Fifth Avenue one recent afternoon and navigated his way past mangled wires and bare concrete beams, his Prada lace-ups crunching on broken glass.

"The staircase is going to come up here," he said, on the gutted fourth floor. Turning toward a jumble of boxes, he added: "And here's our fur business."

"It might look like nothing to you right now," said Mr Metrick, the retail chain's president, "but to me, it's a passion project."

Department stores, as a class, are under siege: online retailers are making inroads into luxury, off-price outlets are peddling name brands at deep discounts, and there has been a shift in where and how people shop. But Saks, the 91-year-old depart…