Saks Lays Out Plan to Pay Unpaid Vendors After Delays

Saks Fifth Avenue told vendors in a letter Friday that it will take more than a year to pay unpaid bills, a sign of the difficult outlook facing US department stores and the brands they work with.

Saks told vendors that it will pay past due balances in 12 monthly installments starting in July, according to the letter, a copy of which was seen by Bloomberg News. On new orders, Saks will pay within 90 days — a longer time frame than the industry standard of around two months. Saks, whose parent company acquired rival Neiman Marcus last year, had been delaying payments to vendors during the past year or so.