Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Saks Inc., the U.S. luxury clothing chain, plans to close all its bridal departments except for those in its Manhattan and Beverly Hills stores to concentrate on higher-growth categories amid the U.S. recession.

Saks is shutting 16 of its 18 salons, Jessica Gioia, a spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. The retailer will stop taking orders as soon as the end of this month, Kert Rosenkoetter, vice president and general manager of Saks Fifth Avenue’s St. Louis store, wrote in a Dec. 1 letter to customers.

“After much consideration, and only after a thorough analysis of the wedding dress business Saks Fifth Avenue offers, as well as what is offered in the local marketplace, we have decided to discontinue offering a Bridal Salon in most of our stores,” Rosenkoetter wrote.

Saks has struggled with declining sales amid the luxury- spending slowdown during the global financial crisis. Revenue dropped 12 percent to $698 million in the latest quarter, and sales at stores open at least a year also declined 12 percent. It posted a net loss of $42.8 million.

A copy of the letter was obtained by Bloomberg News and confirmed by Rosenkoetter today.

“It is critical to appropriately and wisely allocate our resources to higher growth businesses, especially in this environment,” New York-based Gioia said in an e-mail.

Saks fell 48 cents, or 8.9 percent, to $4.91 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have dropped 76 percent this year.

Saks, based in New York, operates 53 Saks Fifth Avenue stores.

To contact the reporter on this story: Cotten Timberlake in Washington at ctimberlake@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 9, 2008 17:29 EST